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-The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Diplomatists of Europe, by M. (Jean
-Baptiste Honoré Raymond) Capefigue, Edited by William Monteith,
-Translated by William Monteith
-
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions 
-whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at 
-www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-
-
-
-Title: The Diplomatists of Europe
-
-
-Author: M. (Jean Baptiste Honoré Raymond) Capefigue
-
-Editor: William Monteith
-
-Release Date: December 17, 2016  [eBook #53748]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-
-***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DIPLOMATISTS OF EUROPE***
-
-
-UTF-8
-
-
-
-Note: Images of the original pages are available through
-      Internet Archive. See
-      https://archive.org/details/diplomatistsofeu00cape
-
-
-
-
-
-THE DIPLOMATISTS OF EUROPE.
-
-From the French of
-
-M. CAPEFIGUE.
-
-Edited by
-
-Major-General Monteith,
-K.L.S. F.R.S. &c.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-London:
-G. W. Nickisson,
-215 Regent Street.
-
-M.DCCC.XLV.
-
-London:
-Printed by George Barclay, 28 Castle Street,
-Leicester Square.
-
-
-
-
-CONTENTS.
-
-
-                                                       PAGE
-
-PRINCE METTERNICH                                         1
-
-M. DE TALLEYRAND                                         58
-
-COUNT POZZO DI BORGO                                    109
-
-M. PASQUIER                                             172
-
-THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON                                  197
-
-THE DUC DE RICHELIEU                                    223
-
-PRINCE HARDENBERG                                       252
-
-COUNT NESSELRODE                                        289
-
-LORD CASTLEREAGH                                        327
-
-
-
-
-AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
-
-
-The sketches now offered to the reader have most of them been already
-published in parts, in magazines and reviews. I have been advised to
-collect them into one work, in order to make their tendency and their
-spirit better understood.
-
-The end I proposed to myself at the time I wrote them, was to efface
-the prejudices which the decrepit schools of the Revolution, and of the
-Empire, had cast over the vast intellects who have had the direction
-of the government in various countries, or who still continue to guide
-the state. This end, I think, was partly gained by the four sketches of
-the career of Prince Metternich, Counts Pozzo di Borgo and Nesselrode,
-and the Duke of Wellington. I have considered it the more essential to
-complete this publication at present, because, for some years past,
-people appear only to take pleasure in extolling those who have been
-engaged in the work of destruction. The most illustrious public bodies
-take pleasure in listening to the praises of those who have ruined
-the old state of society, and no man is considered clever, learned,
-or virtuous, unless he has been at least half a regicide. As for me I
-request a little space for the politicians who create, preserve, or
-add to a state,--for the men whose works still endure, and survive all
-those who declaimed against them. I would give all the fame of the
-Radicals of 1791, of the year III., or the year VIII., for the smallest
-portion of the abilities of Cardinal Richelieu.
-
-It was not at random that I selected the names of the statesmen of
-whom an account is here to be met with; they each represent an idea--a
-system--a policy. Prince Metternich is the creator of the theory of
-the balance of power and armed neutrality, which has obtained a very
-exalted rank for Austria among European powers; Prince Talleyrand
-brought back among us the temperate diplomacy of the Empire, of the
-first days of the Restoration, and of the Revolution of 1830; Count
-Pozzo di Borgo personifies the persevering tact of European policy and
-the Russian system since the year 1814; the chancellor, M. Pasquier,
-exhibits the administration of the latter part of the reign of
-Napoleon, and he was, also, the moderate minister of the Restoration;
-the Duke of Wellington is England under arms, and the active spirit of
-the Tories; the Duc de Richelieu is the symbol of probity in affairs,
-and of great unrequited services--he is the man who delivered his
-country from the dominion of a stranger, and yet with whose name
-the present generation is, perhaps, less acquainted than with that
-of any orator at the hustings; Prince Hardenberg represents Prussia
-at first holding a neutral course, then advancing with her poetical
-universities; Count Nesselrode has been Chancellor of Russia for the
-last thirty years; and, finally, I have raised to its proper exalted
-position the much-belied character of Lord Castlereagh, the faithful
-interpreter of the views of the Tory party, the worthy successor of Mr.
-Pitt, and who preserved England and added to her power. These sketches,
-therefore, by their account of the different ministers, form a vast
-history of the cabinets of Europe.
-
-Many new details will be found in these portraits, and my admiration
-for intellectual and powerful minds has made me strive to perfect
-them. Being quite unconnected with the agitations of the present
-times, I have not mentioned in these pages any name mixed up with
-the dissensions of the press and the tribune. Some of the politicians
-of the present day were, however, the noble friends of the Duc de
-Richelieu, and others afforded him the aid of their talents and
-sagacity. May they continue their career, without becoming weary and
-discouraged in the difficult paths of Conservatism and order! May
-they persevere, in spite of the misery of holding office in changeful
-times! The heart of Pitt was often deeply pained while arranging
-his magnificent work, and England now pronounces him the prince of
-statesmen. Toil and trouble are the condition of man, and nothing
-strong or durable ever was created, without raising a clamour of
-opposition from beings of inferior intellects, violent tempers, and
-disappointed ambition.
-
-      _June 1843._
-
-  NOTE.--The following pages being merely a translation, the Editor
-  has found it necessary to abstain from any observations on the work
-  of M. Capefigue, and from offering any remarks upon the sentiments
-  of this able writer, even where he may materially differ with him.
-
-      _June 1845._
-
-
-
-
-PRINCE METTERNICH.
-
-
-The Austrian government, which is composed of old hereditary states
-and conquests of a later date, a sort of chequer-work of provincial
-privileges and immunities, may be said to be the creation of a
-statesman, who must be placed in a superior rank to all others.
-
-It is not only under the aspect of a long and brilliant diplomatic
-career that we must regard the life of Prince Metternich, we must also
-look upon him as the head of the executive organisation, which includes
-so many various interests, and such a diversity of national characters
-and feelings, under the government of one sceptre.
-
-Cast your eyes over the provinces which extend from the centre of
-Germany into Poland, from the extremity of Gallicia as far as Venice
-and Milan, from Zara on the Adriatic to Mantua, the key of Lake Garda
-and of the Tyrol, an assemblage of richer countries or more opulent
-cities cannot be met with. To Metternich belongs the honour of having
-already, for above thirty years, maintained his hold upon these
-various nations; he has realised the most difficult system of local
-administration and of a central government, great domestic liberty,
-with, at the same time, careful surveillance, an active police with
-very indulgent toleration, the most extensive credit with the least
-oppressive taxation. One might compare the Austrian government to the
-father of a family, anxious and rather strict with his children; the
-elder ones are tractable, the younger sometimes unruly, over whom he
-keeps a tight rein, in order that it may as seldom as possible be
-necessary to have recourse to chastisement.[1]
-
- [1] Nothing can exceed the paternal government of Austria to her
- hereditary states, or the severity of the police in her Italian
- dominions. In Hungary the Austrian power has never been sufficient to
- enable her to ameliorate the prominent defects of their still feudal
- system. The Italians, Sclavonians, and Hungarians, are still far from
- being amalgamated with the Austrians.
-
-Railways and industrial establishments are becoming numerous in
-Austria; her navy is increasing on the Adriatic, and is a means of
-circulating her flourishing manufactures. Metternich has thus caused
-the age of labour to succeed to that of war and conquest. The ancient
-constitution of Germany was destroyed at the peace of Presburg, during
-the time of the contemptible and fragile assembly of the Confederation
-of the Rhine. The house of Austria then renounced the old imperial
-crown; but a new existence has opened for it, and, after innumerable
-reverses under the Republic and Napoleon, it again reared its head with
-a new state of political life and of military power. Since the year
-1813, Austria has been constantly called upon to play a great part in
-the affairs of Europe, and Metternich has succeeded in giving to her
-politics a character of perseverance, or, rather, of immutability, the
-result of an idea nobly conceived, and then worked out like a mission
-he felt intrusted to accomplish.
-
-The political life of a statesman is bound up in the work he has
-undertaken. It is not my habit as a historian to adopt the narrow views
-inspired by party-spirit or worn-out declamation: when a minister has
-achieved the greatness of an empire, resisted vassalage under Napoleon,
-and furnished the most extensive field for the page of history, I will
-not, from a weak patriotism, raise my voice against this master-mind.
-We may meet with enough men who destroy; we ought to feel respect for
-those capable of creating, and then maintaining their work.
-
-Clement Wenceslaus, Count of Metternich-Winneburg-Ochsenhausen, was
-born at Coblentz, on the 13th of May, 1773, of a good German family,
-whose ancestors have served in former times against the Ottomans. I
-also find there were several officers of the name of Metternich in
-the company of Lanzknechts, in the time of the Reformation and of the
-League. His father, Count Metternich, a man of very moderate abilities,
-was greatly in the confidence of Prince Kaunitz, and his name is
-mentioned in all the business transacted concerning the Low Countries.
-Young Metternich received the names of Clement-Wenceslaus, after the
-Prince of Poland and Lithuania, Duke of Saxony, who stood godfather to
-him. At the age of fifteen he went to the university of Strasburg, at
-that time very celebrated, and the most frequented academy in Europe.
-
-The philosophy of Voltaire, Helvetius, and Rousseau, was then in
-the ascendant--that empty sensualism which filled young heads with
-effervescing fancies. The university of Strasburg was under the
-direction of Koch, the celebrated lecturer upon international law;
-and, by a singular chance, another youth, whose name has since been
-well known, was also pursuing his studies at the same university; this
-was Benjamin Constant de Rebecque. Some degree of friendship sprung up
-between the students, and it is curious to observe what a different
-career was opened by the caprices of Fortune to the two pupils of
-Professor Koch. Count Metternich concluded his philosophical studies
-in the year 1790; the rest of his education was completed in Germany.
-When he reached the age of twenty he visited England and Holland, and
-afterwards went to live at Vienna, where he married Maria Eleonora, of
-Kaunitz-Rietberg.
-
-Metternich's first entry into the diplomatic corps was merely as a
-secretary at the Congress of Rahstadt,--a singular negotiation, which
-had a most tragical termination;[2] he afterwards accompanied Count
-Stadion in his missions to Prussia and to St. Petersburg, and was
-at the latter court at the time of the alliance between Russia and
-Austria, which fell to the ground in consequence of the rapidity of
-Napoleon's military investment of Ulm, and the revolt of Bavaria,--an
-admirable campaign, which at once placed the French emperor in the rank
-of the greatest military commanders.
-
- [2] The French commissioners were attacked on leaving the city and
- many killed.--_Editor._
-
-Even at this early period it was the opinion of Metternich that the
-triple alliance between Russia, Prussia, and Germany, would not be
-too much to restrain the power of Napoleon; and a striking evidence
-of the importance of France and of her leader had just been afforded
-by the battle of Austerlitz. Count Metternich was called upon to take
-a part in all the treaties concluded at this time; and, up to this
-period, his opinions appeared to belong to the same school as those
-of Count Stadion, who was shortly afterwards appointed minister for
-foreign affairs. By him Metternich was proposed as ambassador to the
-court of Russia; but, the treaty of Presburg having completely altered
-the position of Austria in Europe, Francis II. preferred sending the
-young diplomatist to Napoleon; and, on the 15th of August, 1806, the
-day of the solemn national anniversary, the ambassador presented his
-credentials, and first appeared before the favourite of fortune and
-glory.
-
-The political system of which Count Metternich was the representative
-at Paris was very complicated. Since the first coalition against
-France, Austria had suffered the most severe reverses, having been
-twice deprived of the Milanese by Buonaparte, general and consul;
-then driven back on the banks of the Danube by Moreau, and having a
-second time entered the lists, after the alliance with Russia, this new
-coalition was dissolved by the battle of Austerlitz, and the Austrian
-cabinet was obliged to sign the treaty of Presburg,--a covenant
-submitted to through necessity alone, which broke up the old empire of
-Germany, and, in some measure, made an end of that of Austria.
-
-It was the politics of this treaty, so fatal to the interests of
-the emperor, that Metternich was deputed to represent at Paris. The
-Confederation of the Rhine had overturned all the German system of
-affairs, which was as ancient as the Golden Bull. Wirtemberg and
-Bavaria, instead of being mere electorates, became kingdoms; when
-Bavaria received, at the expense of Austria, a territory of more
-than 12,000 square miles, a population of above 3,000,000 of souls,
-and a revenue of above 17,000,000 florins; and the aggrandisement of
-Wirtemberg, also prejudicial to Austria, though, no doubt, in a less
-degree, cost her about 150 square miles. Austria also lost the Venetian
-states, the Tyrol, the five cities of the Danube, Venetian Dalmatia,
-and the mouths of the Cattaro.
-
-The act of the Confederation of the Rhine, which was the work of
-Talleyrand, Otto, and Reinhard, tore away the last remains of the old
-imperial mantle: and Francis II. was obliged to lay aside this ancient
-dignity, which would have been, in time to come, nothing but an empty
-title. Napoleon's system was to invade every thing, and a treaty was to
-him but an opportunity of launching out into fresh conquests. He had
-planted his family in Germany by instituting the kingdom of Westphalia;
-and, by means of marriages, he connected himself with Wirtemberg and
-Bavaria: all the stipulations in the treaty of Presburg had been
-insisted upon with the most inflexible haughtiness.
-
-After these terrible reverses, Metternich considered the best means
-of regaining a little influence in Europe was to keep on good terms
-with Napoleon, or rather to preserve a strict neutrality, which might
-allow Austria to trace out an advantageous line of conduct for herself,
-should any decisive circumstance occur, as it could hardly fail to do
-sooner or later. The diplomatic system of Metternich was consequently
-one of expectation and inquiry; his special mission was, to become
-intimately acquainted with the most trifling peculiarities of this new
-and singularly constructed court, and to discover the thoughts and even
-the caprices of the powerful Emperor of the French.
-
-Fresh successes had just crowned the arms of Napoleon. After some
-unfortunate hesitation, Prussia had cast herself headlong into the
-Russian alliance; and, after her subsequent defeat at Jena, the peace
-of Tilsit had laid the foundation of a temporary truce, for treaties
-with Napoleon could only possess that transitory character. Metternich
-received orders from his court to endeavour, by means of a respectful
-deference, to conciliate the favour of the great sovereign. The
-almost magical influence which Napoleon had obtained over the mind
-of Alexander at Tilsit had excited great apprehensions at Vienna:
-an interview was about to take place at Erfurt, and the probable
-consequences that might result from it were a source of serious alarm
-to Austria. Metternich was constantly seen at the Tuileries. He was
-the representative of a very ancient European court; himself a man
-of good birth, and with aristocratic manners, every thing was in his
-favour, and he was perfectly successful in his mission. At the court
-of Napoleon there existed much formality, a tone of society combining
-at once a degree of constraint with the blunt manners of the camp. It
-was a mere collection of puerile ceremonies; and a man of good family
-enjoyed an incontestable superiority there from the good taste and
-ease communicated by education, and the constant habit of society. The
-ambassador was then thirty-four years of age, his countenance was noble
-and intelligent; he went to all the court entertainments, and attracted
-universal attention by the elegance of his equipage and his expensive
-habits. Young, brilliant, gifted with a ready wit and an easy flow of
-language, with a slightly emphatic manner of speaking, Count Metternich
-had the reputation of being a successful gallant, and highly in favour
-with the Parisian ladies.
-
-The ambassador had recourse to the pleasing species of politics which
-reaches the secrets of the cabinet--through the heart. His fascinating
-manners had gained him the good-will of Napoleon, who took pleasure
-in distinguishing him in the crowd of foreign ministers, and liked to
-converse with him, though with an occasional observation that he was
-very young to be the representative of one of the oldest courts of
-Europe. "At the battle of Austerlitz you were scarcely older than I am
-now!" was one day the reply of the ambassador. The Emperor was never
-hasty in his language to Metternich, for he considered him as the means
-by which an idea of the French system could be conveyed into Austria;
-and more than once the subject of their debate was the question of the
-balance of power in Europe, which assumed in the mind of Napoleon such
-gigantic proportions. Metternich's scheme was to represent the alliance
-between France and Austria as indispensable; and he spoke of the treaty
-of 1736, concluded under the influence of the Duc de Choiseul, as the
-basis of all political grandeur in Europe. The conference of Erfurt
-was, however, a source of constant uneasiness to him, and Napoleon had
-just departed for the meeting which was to reconcile the two empires
-of the North and the South. Promises had been exchanged between the
-emperors, and in these plans the sacrifice of Austria was determined
-upon. They were not ignorant of this at Vienna: had, then, all the
-efforts of Metternich in Paris been in vain? The Spanish war had just
-broken out, and another sovereign had been hurled from his throne.
-Was not this a fresh warning to the House of Austria? The alarms it
-inspired were confessed at the court of London, and England fed their
-fears in order to induce them to take a vigorous part in the war;
-for which purpose a report was circulated of a projected change of
-succession in the Austrian dynasty, favoured by Napoleon.
-
-The peace of Presburg, by placing every where in the Germanic
-Confederation French principles, and almost French administration,
-had excited strong dissatisfaction, and the general detestation had
-been increased by large military contributions, and numerous vexatious
-oppressions indulged in by the generals and their subordinates. In
-every direction burst forth the anti-Gallic spirit in favour of the
-liberty of Germany, especially among the nobility and the secret
-associations, which had become formidable as early as 1808. The
-liberal impulse against Napoleon had been awakened in Europe, and it
-was not one of the least influential causes of his downfall. England
-encouraged these views; subsidies were promised to a government deeply
-involved in debt; the resistance of the Peninsula was pointed out to
-Austria, and the difficulties thereby opposed to the military power of
-Napoleon, especially after the capitulation of Baylen. Why should they
-not take advantage of this opportunity to burst through the conditions
-imposed by the treaty of Presburg? England engaged to subsidise the
-Austrian army, if, uniting their efforts to the common cause, they
-would seize that moment for declaring against France; and she also
-promised a simultaneous diversion in Holland and Spain. These warlike
-propositions soon found friends among the German nobility, and Count
-Stadion entered completely into the English views. The levies were
-immense, for the fate of the empire was at stake.
-
-At this period the business of the young ambassador was to mask by
-flattering promises the military preparations that were making in
-Austria. His papers were full of protestations of confidence: and how
-could he act otherwise? Is it not the duty of a diplomatist to soften
-the course of events, and to moderate the first bursts of anger and
-vengeance of one nation against another? Austria did not wish to engage
-in war until Napoleon should be completely absorbed in his Spanish
-expedition. But as soon as the Emperor and the Old Guard had left
-Paris, to raise the puppet throne of Joseph at Madrid, she no longer
-dissembled her warlike preparations; hostilities were commenced against
-Bavaria, the close ally of Napoleon, and the Austrian standard was
-unfurled at Ulm. Napoleon, informed of this unexpected movement, made
-but one step back to Paris. Metternich was still there.
-
-The ambassador was now placed in a very delicate position, for the
-Austrian war had really been a surprise. Napoleon thought himself the
-dupe of Metternich, and he commanded Fouché, the Minister of Police,
-to cause him to be seized, and marched from one military station to
-another, until he reached the frontier. The order was harsh, brutal,
-and contrary to all diplomatic usages. Is not an ambassador bound to
-obey the instructions of his government, and to serve its interests?
-and is it not his duty to conceal every thing that may injure his
-court? Fouché, with his usual regard to his own interest, and who
-considered what the future might bring forth, executed the orders of
-Napoleon with delicacy and politeness. He went to the ambassador's
-house, told him the occasion of his visit, and expressed the most
-lively regret for it. A degree of dissatisfaction had already begun
-to arise in the mind of this minister, who looked forward to the
-time when the insatiable ambition of Napoleon must have a limit, and
-he and Metternich expressed to each other, in mutual confidence,
-their feelings on the miseries of war and the rapacious spirit of
-Napoleon; and Fouché, whose disposition was generally communicative and
-incautious, went so far as to give utterance to most singular opinions
-concerning the probable downfall, or even death, of his master. In
-order as far as possible to soften the rigorous orders he had received,
-a single captain of gendarmerie, chosen by Marshal Moncey, accompanied
-the travelling-carriage of the ambassador to the frontier. Prince
-Metternich takes pleasure in relating the curious occurrences of this
-journey, which, like that of the aide-de-camp Czernicheff in 1812, was
-not devoid of peril.
-
-Then the earth was shaken! The Austrian army, under the Archduke
-Charles, fought valiantly for the defence of their country and
-their sovereign, and the battle of Essling menaced the fortunes of
-Napoleon. The disastrous event of this day was never fully published in
-France; but elsewhere it was perfectly known. Preussisch-Eylau, the
-capitulation of Baylen, and the battle of Essling on the Danube, appear
-to me to be the three culminating points, which first taught the world
-that the armies of Napoleon were no longer invincible: these battles
-had a great moral influence upon the affairs of Europe, and Wagram was
-necessary to restore the powerful effect of the Emperor's name; the
-field of battle on this occasion was doubtful, but nothing could be
-more decisive than the result; great discouragement was manifested in
-the councils of Vienna, and the party in favour of peace carried the
-day.
-
-Victory had then decided between France and Austria, proving the star
-of Napoleon to be utterly irresistible. The two parties which divided
-the court of Vienna now became more marked, the opinion in favour of
-peace, represented by Count Bubna, prevailed in the Emperor's council,
-and Count Stadion, who had hitherto had the direction of affairs
-under the influence of the English system, was obliged to retire from
-the cabinet. The ministry for foreign affairs having thus become
-vacant, Francis II. thought to conciliate France by the appointment
-of Metternich, who had displayed great abilities during his embassy
-to that country. The count, having been reconciled with Napoleon,
-had since then carefully maintained a middle course between peace
-and war, and he had also begun to adopt in politics the attitude of
-armed neutrality, which, ever since 1813, has been the characteristic
-of Austrian policy. This was a period of deep humiliation for the
-old imperial crown. The _Moniteur_ had announced that _the House
-of Lorraine had ceased to reign_; the Austrian monarchy had been
-vanquished in the struggle, its armies had experienced terrible
-reverses; but there still remained to the Emperor Francis the devoted
-affection of his people, and the indignation they felt at the prospect
-of French domination.
-
-Count Metternich was sent as minister plenipotentiary to Napoleon,
-together with Count Bubna, and interviews took place for the purpose
-of treating of peace. The victor was excessively irritated at the
-vigorous conduct of Austria, and never were conferences attended with
-more violence or more fiery disputes; so that Metternich was obliged
-to apply all the powers of his mind towards inspiring the haughty
-conqueror with more moderate sentiments. If Napoleon bore in mind his
-silent and skilful conduct in 1809, he knew, that by favouring his
-elevation at the court of the Emperor of Austria, he should secure to
-himself an ally and a representative of his system. These motives,
-joined to dark hints of assassination, and to the uneasiness caused
-by the religious brotherhoods among the people, which were already
-beginning to stir for independence, all contributed to hasten the
-conclusion of the treaty of Vienna. Is it necessary to remind the
-reader that the French every where made use of their victories with the
-inflexible right of the conqueror?
-
-On the occasion of this treaty, Count Metternich received the title of
-Chancellor of the State, with the direction of foreign affairs,--an
-office of immense responsibility under existing circumstances. The
-population was exhausted by the war; the treasury without resources,
-having been completely drained by the contributions levied by the
-French; and the monarchy was deprived of all influence in Germany, the
-treaty of Vienna having robbed it of the last remains of importance
-towards the south; so that, as I have elsewhere[3] remarked, beside
-her was the Confederation of the Rhine, that is to say, Napoleon; in
-front the Helvetic Confederation, again Napoleon; to the south the
-kingdom of Italy, still Napoleon. There remained but a choice of two
-plans to Austria, either again to try the chance of war, or to appease
-the Emperor of the French by the most profound submission to all his
-wishes. Such was the idea of Metternich, when he suggested the marriage
-of the archduchess, when, as it was said by the implacable Lady
-Castlereagh, it was necessary to deliver up a daughter of the house of
-Austria to satisfy the Minotaur.
-
- [3] See "Europe during the Consulate and the Empire of Napoleon."
-
-If the French emperor were to choose a wife among the grand-duchesses
-of the house of Romanoff, the plan proposed at Erfurt would be quickly
-accomplished, that is to say, the formation of two great empires,
-around which there would be a number of small intermediate kingdoms, in
-some degree dependent upon them; and, to avoid this peril, Metternich
-hastened the marriage between Napoleon and Maria Louisa: by this
-means the house of Austria would secure a real protector in the
-French emperor, and the suit of a brilliant adventurer, at the feet
-of the daughter of a royal line, might be advantageous to the future
-prospects of the German crown. It is allowable in politics to calculate
-to what extent human passions may affect the course of affairs, and
-therefore the new chancellor of the state, when negotiating the union
-of the archduchess with Napoleon, looked forward, by means of a family
-arrangement, to recovering the position of which Austria had been
-deprived by the fortune of war. The marriage of the archduchess was
-arranged and concluded entirely by Metternich.
-
-Still, however, he carefully pursued the course towards which there
-appeared at that time to be a general bent in Europe. In the beginning
-of the year 1811, certain symptoms appeared to indicate to the court
-of Vienna that a rupture was about to take place between France and
-Russia, and these suspicions were changed ere long into certainty:
-M. Otto, the French ambassador at Vienna, opened his mind completely
-to Metternich, and, acting on the principle of the late alliance, he
-proposed they should form a kind of league of offence and defence in
-the war Napoleon was about to commence against Russia. The French
-emperor only required a detached corps of 40,000 Austrian auxiliaries
-as an active force, who were to attack the eastern extremity of
-Gallicia, at the same time that the French army should proceed to the
-Vistula. This treaty farther stipulated that the Austrian possessions
-in Poland should remain untouched, and certain territorial cessions in
-favour of Austria were agreed upon, in the event of the war against
-Russia proving successful; thus Metternich began to reap the advantages
-of the French alliance.
-
-The campaign of 1812 began. The Austrian corps of 30,000 auxiliaries
-was posted on the Vistula, and, if not required to take an active part
-in the operations, it still was a check upon the Russian army, which
-already threatened the flanks of Napoleon's troops. Metternich watched
-with extreme anxiety the movements of the invading army in Russia; its
-disastrous retreat was an appalling and unlooked-for catastrophe, and
-Prince Schwartzenberg went to oppose the Russian troops.
-
-A new train of ideas, a new series of negotiations were now to be
-entertained. The retreat from Moscow had been so calamitous, that it
-had not spared to the French enough troops to protect the line of the
-Oder, far less to retain possession of that of the Vistula. If Prussia
-and Austria had been faithful to their alliance with Napoleon, they
-ought immediately to have combined their forces, and opposed all their
-strength to the Russians, who were already making incursions on every
-side. The situation of the two courts was very difficult, for the
-whole German nation was so unanimous in their dislike to the French,
-that it would have been impossible for the cabinets of Berlin and
-Vienna to take any steps in their favour, without placing themselves
-in direct opposition to the people they governed; and, besides, after
-the deep humiliation they had both endured at the hands of Napoleon,
-was it not natural they should seek some motive, or, if the expression
-be preferred, some pretext, for delivering themselves from a state
-of subjection so fatal to them? Prussia, who was foremost, had no
-hesitation in abandoning an alliance that was so dishonourable to her.
-Metternich did not immediately follow her contagious example, but, a
-cessation of hostilities having taken place between the Russian and
-Austrian armies, the eyes of France fell upon the cabinet of Vienna,
-as the mediatorial power which was to prepare a peace, on a foundation
-in better keeping with the general equilibrium of Europe. In his
-conferences with M. Otto, the imperial chancellor gave him clearly
-to understand, that the Austrian government would not depart from
-the principles of the French alliance, but that the nature of their
-situation had been altered by the late military events, and, as the
-frontier of Austria might become the theatre of war, the cabinet of
-Vienna would naturally assume a more decided attitude, in order to
-bring to a conclusion a struggle which would for the future so closely
-affect the empire.
-
-The mission of Prince Schwartzenberg and Count Bubna, at Paris, was
-conducted in the same spirit. Without giving up the alliance, the
-Austrian government signified that it could no longer rest upon the
-same basis, in fact, that they must take a more decided part in
-the approaching military crisis. Metternich's object in this new
-negotiation was to lay the foundation for a general peace. Such a
-resolution was by no means disinterested on his part, for, in the new
-settlement of the boundaries of the different states of Europe which
-must ensue, Austria would obtain an accession of territory, as a
-consequence of the position in which the course of events had placed
-her. The English party was gaining ground at Vienna, and Lord Walpole
-had arrived with offers of subsidies and augmentation of territory;
-in proportion, also, as the French army met with fresh reverses, the
-popular feeling of Germany assumed a more decided character; still
-Metternich persisted in his mediatorial system, from the conviction
-that it would be for the real advantage of his country.
-
-These negotiations continued all through the winter of 1812-13. In
-the meanwhile, M. Otto had been replaced by Count Louis de Narbonne,
-the representative of the family alliance. He had been appointed by
-Napoleon, in the hope that his presence would remind Austria that an
-archduchess sat upon the throne of France; and, by the decree of the
-senate and the emperor, this same archduchess had just been officially
-proclaimed regent during the absence of Napoleon: the government being
-placed in her hands was a fresh guarantee to Austria of the personal
-feelings of the emperor's son-in-law. In politics alliances are
-formed upon positive interests, and Napoleon had too greatly abused
-his victories; the decree had gone forth, the empire, which extended
-from Hamburg to Venice--the protectorate, which pressed heavily upon
-Germany, Prussia, Italy, Switzerland, and Holland--the diplomatic
-oppression which burdened Sweden and Denmark--all must have an end:
-after action, a reaction must be expected.
-
-During this time considerable levies took place in every part of the
-Austrian territory, for it was determined the army should be made up to
-its full complement of 300,000 men. Metternich justified these warlike
-preparations by the natural position in which Austria was placed:
-when the belligerents came so closely in contact with the territory
-of a neuter party, it appeared quite natural that the neuter should
-take precautions to preserve its own independence. The position which
-Metternich had given to Austria had made her a predominant power, with
-the right of insisting upon real advantages, by way of indemnity; this
-was an admirable change of circumstances, which left Austria at liberty
-to come to a definitive decision.
-
-Baron Weissemberg then started for London, under the official pretext
-of bringing about a general peace, but in reality for the purpose of
-sounding the English cabinet upon the advantages likely to be offered
-to Austria, in the way of subsidies and accession of territory, in
-case she should declare openly in favour of the coalition, and should
-be willing to furnish so considerable a force as 450,000 men. Now all
-this occurred in the month of March 1813, and the armaments of Austria
-received a fresh augmentation, when the thunders of the artillery
-were heard at Lutzen and Bautzen; 200,000 men were already located
-in Bohemia: against whom could these immense bodies of troops be
-intended to act? At this juncture, Metternich again appeared in his
-mediatorial capacity, to prepare the armistice of Plesswitz, afterwards
-definitively settled at Nieumarch: Austria constantly declared that,
-as the conflicting armies occupied four hundred leagues of her
-frontiers, it was impossible she should any longer refrain from taking
-an active part in the struggle, if the belligerent powers would not
-agree to terms of reconciliation. A step was thus taken, from a state
-of alliance with Napoleon, towards a condition of armed neutrality,
-and how could so powerful a country as Austria long continue in this
-situation? In the heated state of the public mind in Germany, how was
-it possible to calculate the exact point where the mediation would stop
-for the _casus belli_?
-
-It was the interest of Russia and Prussia to keep on good terms with a
-court capable of drawing up a body of excellent troops 200,000 strong.
-After some bitter and ill-advised observations, Napoleon also accepted
-the mediation; it was a sort of break in the military operations, an
-expression of the weariness felt by an army now worn out with battles.
-We may see how great a part Metternich had created for Austria in these
-negotiations, for, on former occasions, the plenipotentiaries could
-treat the Austrian interests as a separate concern, while in her new
-position Vienna became the indispensable intermediate agent in any
-treaty that might be contemplated. The question was, Did Austria offer
-her mediation in good faith, with a sincere wish for peace? or was it
-merely as a lure, to enable her to render her military establishment
-more complete? This becomes an important question for history.
-
-It must be remembered that, after the battles of Lutzen and Bautzen,
-the desire for peace was universal, even in France, and in the tent
-of Napoleon, in the military night-watch, as well as on the morning
-of battle; the troops still fought, but it was no longer with the
-willingness, the enthusiasm of the victories of Austerlitz and Jena.
-Napoleon submitted to the powerful voice of public opinion, but could
-his iron disposition bend to circumstances? Until that time as general
-and consul, and afterwards as emperor, he had been accustomed to say to
-the vanquished states, "These are my conditions, you have no choice
-but to accept them; and, if there are any alleviating circumstances, it
-is to my clemency alone that you will owe them." In 1813, the tables
-were turned: cabinets now appeared with powers quite equal to that of
-France, animated, too, with the ardour of battle, and burning with the
-desire of repairing their former humiliation, and reconquering their
-independence. The allied powers had signed the armistice of Nieumarch,
-one great inducement being the opportunity gained for carrying on a
-secret negotiation with the crown prince of Sweden, and also for the
-sake of persuading Austria to join the league. I think their anxiety
-for peace was less than their wish to gain the time necessary to
-complete their vast military arrangements, by detaching Austria from
-her part of mediator, and inducing her to join them in the war against
-the common enemy; pious Germany, having gained her feet, now wanted
-to make an end of her oppressor. Now, would Metternich continue to
-preserve this neutral position? would not the Austrian government be
-inclined for a change of system?
-
-Let us not forget how Austria was at that time situated. Had she not
-a right to obtain, by diplomatic means, all the advantages offered
-by her present position? We know the heavy losses she had sustained
-in Italy; the Milanese, the Tyrol, and the Illyrian provinces, had
-been successively torn from her: and was it not natural she should
-take advantage of her armed mediation, a favourable position in which
-Metternich had contrived to place her? Had she derived the expected
-advantages from the general peace, she would not have joined the
-coalition against Napoleon; failing in that, she must endeavour to
-recover by force of arms all she had been deprived of during the war.
-It was for the purpose of justifying this delicate situation that
-Metternich first introduced the elegant system of high and noble
-diplomatic language, a style of which Baron Gentz has since been the
-most distinguished organ--Gentz, whose life has been so busy, and so
-full of disappointments, who, in his old age, came to utter soft love
-speeches at the feet of Miss Fanny Elssler.
-
-Metternich unfolds in his papers his ideas upon the balance of power in
-Europe, which tended to diminish the prodigious influence of Napoleon,
-to the benefit of the allied states. I am not aware of any thing
-written in a more remarkable style than these despatches; they are,
-perhaps, rather loose in their details, but all the expressions are so
-carefully guarded, that they never compromised either the cabinet or
-the writer.
-
-After signing the armistice of Nieumarch, Napoleon had fixed his
-head-quarters at Dresden. Successive despatches, from the French
-cabinet, requested the Emperor Francis II. to affix his signature to
-the preliminaries of a treaty of peace; at last, Metternich, bearing
-an autograph letter from his sovereign, in answer to the overtures
-that had been made to him, repaired to Dresden, commissioned to find
-out what might be the definitive intentions of Napoleon with regard
-to peace. The conference lasted nearly half a day; the emperor,
-in his military dress, strode hastily up and down the room, with
-flashing eyes, and sharp, hurried gestures: he took up his hat, then
-laid it down again, and threw himself into a large easy chair, while
-the perspiration started on his brow; he was evidently disturbed
-in mind, for he burst forth, in no measured terms, to Metternich:
-"Your government," said he, "wants to take advantage of my perplexed
-situation; and the question with you is, whether you can exact so
-much from me without fighting, or whether you must decide in ranging
-yourselves among my enemies? Well, let us see! Let us negotiate--I am
-perfectly willing. What do you want?"
-
-To this abrupt sally, to this demand so little in accordance with
-the usual diplomatic forms, Metternich merely replied, "That Austria
-was desirous of establishing an order of things, which, by the wise
-distribution of power, should place the preservation of peace under the
-protection of an association of independent states; that the object of
-the cabinet of Vienna must be to destroy the sole predominancy of the
-Emperor Napoleon, by substituting to his colossal influence a balance
-of power, which should establish Austria, Russia, and Prussia, on a
-footing completely independent of the French empire." As a summary of
-these conditions, Austria claimed Illyria, and a more extended frontier
-towards Italy; the Pope was to be reinstated in his dominions; Poland
-to be subjected to another partition; Spain and Holland were to be
-evacuated by the French army; and the Confederation of the Rhine and
-the mediation of Switzerland were to be given up by the Emperor, who
-was already overwhelmed with ill-fortune.
-
-Thus was to be accomplished the dismemberment of the gigantic work
-erected by the toils and victories of Napoleon. Shall I venture
-to describe this scene as it has been depicted to me by the sole
-eye-witness, Prince Metternich himself? As the Austrian plenipotentiary
-unfolded the views of his cabinet, the sallow complexion of Napoleon
-gradually assumed a crimson hue; at last he exclaimed, "Metternich, do
-you attempt to impose such conditions upon me without drawing a sword?
-These demands are most insulting! And it is my father-in-law who agrees
-to such a plan! What kind of position does he wish to place me in with
-regard to the French people? Ah, Metternich! how much has England
-given you to play this part against me?"
-
-To this offensive language, Metternich, retaining his calm and
-dignified demeanour, replied not a word; and Napoleon, in the violence
-of his gestures, having let fall his hat, the Austrian minister did
-not stoop to pick it up, as politeness would have induced him to do
-under any other circumstances. There was a silence of half an hour.[4]
-Afterwards the conversation was resumed in a cooler and calmer tone;
-and, in dismissing Metternich, the Emperor, taking his hand, said to
-him, "After all, Illyria is not my last word, and we may be able to
-arrange better conditions."
-
- [4] Prince Metternich told me the Emperor had locked the door.
-
-This dialogue is of importance to history, for it decided the fate of
-Napoleon.
-
-The Emperor's habits of command made his language hasty and his summons
-for an answer abrupt; and, when he addressed himself thus to a person
-in an elevated position, it naturally gave great offence. Metternich
-retained the strongest resentment for his behaviour--he had been deeply
-insulted; and, besides, so experienced a minister could not fail to
-discover the secret thoughts of the Emperor, and must have been well
-convinced that, with such a character as his, there was but little
-reason to hope for the re-establishment of the balance of power in
-Europe.
-
-Nevertheless, Austria consented to the conferences at Prague, and, by a
-fresh agreement, the suspension of hostilities was prolonged till the
-10th of August. Metternich, as the representative of the mediatorial
-power, was by right president of the congress, in the same manner as it
-had fallen to the Swedish minister at the congresses of Nimeguen and
-Ryswick. M. Maret first raised difficulties on the score of etiquette,
-because Baron Humboldt and Baron d'Anstett, the representatives of
-Russia and Prussia, were only ministers of the second rank, while
-M. de Caulaincourt and M. Maret belonged to the first. They next
-discussed the order of precedence and little questions of detail; they
-considered whether the negotiation should be carried on in writing or
-_viva voce_, and the forms of the congresses of Nimeguen and Ryswick
-were called for. The object of each party was to gain time, in order
-that hostilities might recommence. At last, Metternich, seeing the
-indefinite turn affairs were taking, resolved to join the military
-Congress of Trachenberg, where the Crown Prince of Sweden, Bernadotte,
-was employed in tracing out the vast plan of the campaign of the
-allied armies against Napoleon. They decided upon marching straight
-upon Paris, without a moment's hesitation, and making an appeal to
-the people, dissatisfied with the Emperor. At Trachenberg, Russia and
-Prussia received all the propositions of the Austrian minister without
-the slightest difficulty; they agreed, whatever might be the personal
-pretensions of the Emperor Alexander, that the general command of the
-allied troops should be conferred upon Prince Schwartzenberg. The
-importance of securing the co-operation of the Austrian army was fully
-appreciated, and no sacrifice was spared to attach an additional force
-of 200,000 men to the coalition.
-
-With a view to avoid this immense co-operation, Napoleon had addressed
-himself at once to the Emperor Francis II., recalling to his mind the
-alliance of their families. Maria Louisa had gone to Mayence, and
-her husband, taking advantage of one or two days which the armistice
-still left at his disposal, went to meet her there, to give his last
-instructions to the daughter of the Cæsars, and to confirm to her
-all the powers of the regency. France then would be governed by an
-archduchess, and, according to all dynastic ideas, could Austria fight
-against a country ruled by the daughter of her emperor? They were
-mistaken; the cabinets no longer stood in awe of Napoleon, and this
-was a circumstance which the French plenipotentiaries at Prague had
-not understood. M. Maret, in particular, had shewn his insufficiency,
-or, at all events, an inferior capacity, unable to bear a comparison
-with a statesman of the school and character of Prince Metternich. One
-of the greatest misfortunes of the Emperor Napoleon was, that he was
-surrounded by a crowd of people constantly at his feet, and dazzled
-with his glory: these were clerks, not statesmen.
-
-Thus the negotiations continued to assume the character of indecision
-and ill-humour, which had marked their origin. The slightest proposal
-called forth anger, the most trifling insinuation gave offence.
-Metternich retained the character of mediator, which had been
-recognised by the other powers; he resisted all idea of overturning the
-French government, and, when General Moreau arrived on the Continent,
-the first words the Austrian minister said to M. Maret were, "Austria
-has nothing to do with this intrigue; she will never approve of the
-proceedings of General Moreau." At last, the ultimatum of the allied
-powers, communicated by Metternich, was as follows. The dissolution of
-the duchy of Warsaw, which was to be divided between Russia, Prussia,
-and Austria (Dantzic was given to Prussia); the cities of Lubech and
-Hamburg were to be reinstated in their independence, the kingdom of
-Prussia was to be remodelled, and one frontier was to extend to the
-Elbe; all the Illyrian provinces, including Trieste, were to be ceded
-to Austria, and a reciprocal guarantee was to be given, that the
-condition of the sovereignties, both small and great, should not be
-subject to alteration, except by common consent, but should continue
-such as they might be settled by the peace. The Emperor of the French
-at first refused to accede to these terms, which were afterwards
-modified, and at last received a reluctant and tardy assent; for
-Austria was then entering with all her strength into the coalition.
-
-I have consulted upon the events of this period the two men who played
-the principal parts in the diplomatic transactions of the war, Count
-Pozzo di Borgo and Prince Metternich. I asked them, "Was there really
-a sincere desire for peace at Prague?" They both answered in the
-affirmative. Pozzo di Borgo, in his hatred for Napoleon, described
-to me the anxiety he felt at witnessing the hesitation of Austria;
-and Metternich justified himself to Europe for the indecision of his
-conduct by his desire to bring his diplomatic mediation to a happy
-issue, for the interests of Napoleon, Austria, and the general peace.
-
-A notification from the court of Vienna announced to Count Nesselrode
-and Prince Hardenberg, that, for the future, Austria, as a member of
-the coalition, would locate 200,000 men, in large bodies, behind the
-mountains of Bohemia. The joy of the Allies was not to be expressed;
-one should have heard Count Pozzo di Borgo recount the magical effect
-produced by this letter of Metternich; it arrived in the middle of
-the night at a barn, in which were reposing the Emperor Alexander,
-the King of Prussia, Count Nesselrode, Prince Hardenberg, and all the
-staff of the allied troops. They arose and embraced each other, as if
-the salvation of Europe were achieved, and Napoleon tumbled from his
-throne. The manifesto of Austria, which was the work of Metternich,
-appeared ten days later. In spite, however, of this rupture,
-Caulaincourt remained at Prague, and the chancellor of state still
-assured him he was ready to proceed with the negotiation if France
-would agree to the independence of the Germanic Confederation and of
-Switzerland, and to the reconstruction of the dominions of Prussia on
-a scale of greater importance. Napoleon, still unwilling to give in,
-applied to Count Bubna, in the persuasion that he would be able to
-exercise a favourable influence over his father-in-law, the emperor; at
-last, on the 14th of August, he gave his consent to the proposals of
-the Austrian cabinet, and his answer was despatched to Prague; but it
-was too late. Metternich declared the impossibility of entering into a
-separate treaty, and said it would be necessary to refer simultaneously
-to the three courts whose political interests were henceforth
-inseparable.
-
-Still Napoleon did not abandon all hope of drawing Austria over to his
-interests, and he proposed entering into a negotiation, even after the
-commencement of hostilities, when the Austrian army was actually in
-motion. 200,000 Austrians came forth from the mountains of Bohemia, and
-turned the flank of the French army. Then the general rising in Germany
-took place; a transitory lustre was conferred by the admirable battle
-of Dresden, but Leipsic witnessed the last expiring gleam of the French
-glory. By the end of 1813, the line of the Elbe was lost, and even that
-of the Rhine was compromised. All Germany was in arms, and the whole of
-Europe had assumed a threatening posture.
-
-Austria had hardly joined the coalition before difficulties arose
-in this vast body, agitated by so many different interests. Some
-jealous feelings had already been entertained concerning the title
-of generalissimo of the armies, which had been conferred upon Prince
-Schwartzenberg, and other questions were subsequently started as to the
-object of the campaign. As long as the French occupied Germany, the
-most pressing anxiety was to get rid of this heavy yoke. Having once
-reached the Rhine, there was no confederation, no imminent danger; the
-soil was covered with the wrecks of Napoleon's empire, and Germany had
-recovered her ancient independence. The sole remaining possessions of
-the French in that country were some fortresses, which, after a siege
-of longer or shorter duration, must revert to their ancient sovereign.
-The house of Austria had ceased to be afraid of France, but had begun
-to entertain some apprehensions with regard to Russia. The Russians had
-been taught the road towards the south of Europe, and they were likely
-to remember it.
-
-In the opinion of Metternich, France, with a certain degree of power
-and a definite extent of territory, was necessary to the balance
-of power in Europe; and he took care this should be mentioned in
-the manifesto published by the allied armies on the Rhine. This
-manifesto, of which the idea belonged to Metternich, was executed by
-Gentz. Austria, being now free from danger in Germany, could, without
-risk, lend assistance to the threatened empire of France. The family
-connexion with Napoleon was not yet broken; his moral influence, it is
-true, was greatly weakened; but his powerful mind was in its pristine
-vigour, and he was still capable of making some daring attempt. These
-long-sighted views were clearly displayed in the conversation between
-Metternich and M. de St. Aignan. Austria, already embarrassed by her
-position with regard to France and Russia, would gladly have withdrawn
-from a war which no longer closely affected her own interests; but a
-principle, fatal to Napoleon, had been admitted,--the allied powers
-were no longer at liberty to enter into a treaty the one without
-the other. When Lord Castlereagh arrived on the Continent, he gave
-additional solidity to this tendency to unite in a common cause; and
-the implacable enemy of Napoleon, Count Pozzo di Borgo, had been
-despatched to London to request the presence of the prime minister of
-England on the Continent. They were desirous of rendering the alliance
-incapable of future alteration, for the first successes beyond the
-Rhine had naturally given birth to two separate questions: one relating
-to territory in the new settlement of the boundaries in Europe; the
-other, a moral question, as to the form of government which should be
-established in France in case the allied armies should take possession
-of Paris. The interests of England and Austria were differently
-affected from those of Russia and Prussia by the arrangements that
-might be entered into.
-
-In the first place, what would they do with the most important
-conquests? Russia was in possession of Poland, Prussia of Saxony, and
-Austria of a great portion of Italy. Should the Emperor Alexander
-attempt to set up a sort of kingdom in Poland, the interests of
-Austria would suffer. Again, could Prussia be permitted to enlarge her
-dominions by the addition of Saxony? All these questions were already
-subjects of debate in the diplomatic body, which, to all outward
-appearance, was still perfectly united; the most unlimited confidence
-in each other was expressed by all parties, but, in reality, interest
-and selfishness were the prevailing feelings. Lord Castlereagh shewed
-great ability at this juncture by constituting himself the general bond
-of union of the coalition.
-
-With regard to the questions connected with the government of France,
-it was hardly possible to suppose Austria would agree to a project of
-a change of dynasty, when an archduchess held the reins of government
-as regent. The Emperor Alexander had entered into a private contract
-with Bernadotte, whose feelings against Napoleon were very bitter.
-Alexander would agree to any form of government that might be proposed,
-but in the conference at Abo all possibilities had been discussed, even
-one which might place Bernadotte at the head of affairs in France.
-England, though well inclined towards the Bourbons, did not make their
-restoration so indispensable a condition as to render debates upon
-matters of more personal interest subordinate to it. Lord Castlereagh
-had explained this to the exiled princes; they had not yet been
-permitted to land upon the Continent, and the Comte d'Artois did not
-arrive at Dole until January, 1814.
-
-It is particularly in this point of view that the history of the
-Congress of Chatillon is deserving of a serious study. At this meeting
-there was still an evident desire on the part of Austria to conclude
-a treaty on the basis of the balance of power in Europe; but, from
-the very commencement, Metternich must have discovered that the
-position of Austria was no longer the same as at the beginning of the
-campaign. All moral influence had now passed over to the side of the
-Emperor Alexander, who had become the arbiter of the destinies of the
-coalition; Prussia and Austria only appeared in the light of useful
-auxiliaries, the principal influence and popularity rested with the
-czar; he alone was talked of, and the negotiations were especially
-addressed to his cabinet. The military treaty of Chaumont, which fixed
-the number of troops to be furnished by the coalition, was dictated by
-Lord Castlereagh, who was afraid of a dissolution of the alliance. It
-was then declared that the allied powers would never sheathe the sword
-till they had reduced France within the limits it occupied in 1792;
-and, for this purpose, each cabinet promised a contingent of 150,000
-men under arms, England agreeing to furnish a subsidy.[5]
-
- [5] The sum of 5,000,000_l._ sterling was to be furnished for the year
- 1814, to be increased if necessary.--_Editor._
-
-From this period Metternich found himself in a very delicate position.
-As the events of the war gradually brought the allies nearer to
-Paris, the Emperor of Austria could not with any degree of propriety
-take a part in military operations whose object was the capture of
-a metropolis governed by the archduchess. Metternich, who was in
-correspondence with Maria Louisa, could no longer control the course of
-events, and, perhaps, this princess, weary of seeing herself surrounded
-by so much littleness of mind, avidity, and folly, as were exhibited
-by the relations and supporters of Napoleon, when the regency was at
-Blois, might not have been sorry to get rid of her fictitious dignity.
-The Emperor Francis II. remained at Dijon, while the bold advance of
-Schwartzenberg laid Paris at the mercy of the allies.
-
-A reproach has constantly been cast upon Metternich for his conduct
-upon this occasion; how, it is said, could he sanction a proceeding
-which rent the imperial crown from the brow of Maria Louisa? I
-believe, at this time, all idea of the continuance of the empire had
-been abandoned, its time had passed away: there are seasons when the
-force of public opinion carries every thing before it, and now there
-was a sort of weariness of mind, people were tired of Napoleon and
-his military system, the string drawn too tight had snapped asunder.
-A retrospect must be taken of that time, and it will explain the
-resolution of the allies. It would have been difficult to maintain
-even the regency of the empress, and at the same time carry out the
-military engagements entered into at Chaumont. In France all were tired
-of the war, a general rising had taken place in Europe, nor would
-Napoleon have submitted to the degradation of a kingdom bounded by
-narrower limits than the Rhine. No doubt the regency would have been
-the most complete triumph of the Austrian system, but what would have
-become of Napoleon under the regency? would he have resigned himself to
-so humiliating a situation? would he not have been stifled in the small
-kingdom of France? The proceedings in Paris were quite independent of
-Metternich, who was not even present at them. The Emperor Alexander
-had acquired so overwhelming an influence in the senate with the
-patriots of 1789, that no cabinet, even of the first order, would have
-contended with it. The archduchess had been conducted from Blois to her
-father, Francis II., without any discussion taking place concerning the
-regency or the empire. Talleyrand had said, "The restoration of the
-Bourbons is a principle; every thing else is an intrigue:" and this
-expression put an end to all negotiations that had not the return of
-Louis XVIII. for their object. The diplomatic corps were occupied with
-the Treaty of Paris, which produced the re-establishment of order, the
-general peace, the restoration of the Bourbons, and the settlement of
-the boundaries of the French territory, which had been the principal
-object and most important result of the campaign. But this was not
-all; the immense empire of Napoleon was in ruins, and how should these
-important fragments with which the world was overspread be divided?
-Might Francis II. resume the old imperial crown, which he had resigned
-at the treaty of Presburg? In spite of the strong predilection then
-entertained for ancient customs, Metternich felt that the crown of
-Charlemagne would be merely an empty title unsupported by any real
-influence, and it would have been a cause of offence to Prussia, whose
-jealousy would have been roused by the existence of a German empire in
-close contiguity with her own kingdom, which embraced nearly a third of
-the population of Germany. With the strong instinct which forms part
-of his character, Metternich felt that, for the future, Austria, while
-retaining a great general influence over Germany, had better strive
-to become a southern sovereignty, having Gallicia at one extremity,
-and Dalmatia at the other, and including the Lombardo-Venetian
-territories, under the ancient and magnificent iron crown. He carried
-this idea into the Congress of Vienna, when the new constitution of the
-European sovereignties was to be established on a general basis, and
-he took care to bring it forward again upon every occasion in which
-the diplomatic system of Austria was displayed. This alone affords an
-explanation of the extreme and constant solicitude evinced for the
-possession of the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, and the constant tendency,
-both by means of conquest and commerce, towards the shores of the
-Adriatic.
-
-At the Congress of Vienna, Metternich exercised a prodigious influence.
-The Emperor Francis had made a great family sacrifice, by abandoning
-the cause of Maria Louisa, and, in honour of this conduct, Europe fixed
-the assemblage of the sovereigns at Vienna. In the midst of balls,
-elegant amusements, and entertainments, Europe was to be remodelled
-on a different basis; the long conferences, which were to decide
-the fate of nations, were intermingled with flowers and pleasure.
-Prince Metternich, then in his forty-first year, saw the object of
-his anxieties and wishes fully accomplished; Vienna afforded the most
-brilliant spectacle; the sovereigns were assembled there, accompanied
-by a myriad of persons of princely rank, with their families, their
-courts, and their numerous suites. Love intrigues contended with
-the more serious business of this Congress, which had become the
-rendezvous of all the most distinguished characters in Europe. In the
-evening people assembled at the Royal Theatre, or in the brilliantly
-illuminated saloons, where, at the gaming-table, Blucher was employed
-in completing the ruin of his affairs, which he had begun in Paris.
-
-Prince Metternich had the direction of the diplomatic party, while the
-empress, wife of Francis II., received the august strangers with the
-grace and dignity she was so well known to possess. The splendours
-of the Congress of Vienna left a strong impression upon the minds of
-the diplomatic characters who were present at it; they are associated
-in their memory with the fresh and pleasing recollection of the
-days of their youth, and, when you converse upon the subject with
-those whom death has spared, they speak in enthusiastic terms of the
-chivalric entertainments, the fancy balls of the empress, and the
-_galanteries_ of the sovereigns. What brilliant parties were those of
-Lady Castlereagh, a female diplomatist, as active as the English prime
-minister in all negotiations relating to the management of the world!
-
-In walking through the streets of Vienna, it was no uncommon sight to
-meet the three sovereigns of Russia, Prussia, and Austria, shaking
-hands, and giving each other marks of mutual confidence, and yet the
-most serious dissensions already prevailed in the Congress concerning
-the territorial arrangement of Europe. The quadruple alliance, as it
-had been settled in the treaty of Chaumont, was nothing but a military
-convention, intended to overturn the power of Napoleon; more a kind of
-plan of battle, or strategic stipulation, than a regular and political
-negotiation. After the fall of Napoleon, the allied powers resumed
-their natural interests. Thus, on the question of German supremacy,
-Prussia would naturally be inclined to side with Russia, and draw off
-from Austria; England, to oppose Russia in every thing relating to
-the sovereignty of Poland, which the Czar had already appropriated to
-himself; and France, though so terribly shaken by the late invasion,
-must endeavour to regain some degree of credit in Europe, by keeping
-on good terms with England and Austria. I must say, to the honour of
-the eldest branch of the Bourbons, that it always exhibited the most
-perfect dignity in its foreign relations, and perhaps the critical
-situation of our internal affairs was only produced by a fatal reaction
-of foreign dissatisfaction upon ourselves. From the first assembling
-of the Congress, private conferences had taken place between Lord
-Castlereagh, Metternich, and Talleyrand, to take into consideration
-the conditions of a treaty which might afford a counterpoise to the
-immense ascendancy Russia had obtained during the invasion of France
-and the events of 1814. By this treaty, which was signed in the month
-of March 1815, subsidies were agreed upon in the event of certain
-occurrences, and an engagement was entered into, that a fixed number
-of troops should always be in readiness for the _casus belli_, should
-Russia and Prussia attempt to disturb the equilibrium established among
-the European powers, and, according to a despatch of M. de Talleyrand,
-France was to maintain a half war establishment.
-
-Metternich was the principal author of this secret treaty, because,
-after things had been replaced in their original state by the
-restoration of Louis XVIII., he began to be afraid of Russia and
-her immense weight: the question of Poland was the pretext. France
-manifested particular anxiety for the re-establishment of the King of
-Saxony, whose territory Prussia was desirous to absorb; while England,
-on the other hand, but little inclined to favour Russia, considered
-it indispensably necessary that Prussia should possess very extensive
-territorial strength, that she might serve as a constant barrier
-against northern invasion. It was necessary Metternich should combat
-this opinion for the sake of Saxony, and he did so in a series of
-papers opposed to those of Prince Hardenberg and Baron Humboldt. On
-the Polish question he perfectly agreed with England: at the bottom
-of Alexander's good-will towards the Poles, there lurked an idea of
-political aggrandisement; for, by making a kingdom of Poland, he well
-knew that the portion of that country that had accrued to Austria, as
-well as what had fallen to the share of Prussia, would sooner or later
-all unite under one sceptre. On no account would Alexander resign his
-paramount influence[6] over Warsaw. Things reached such a pitch, that
-Metternich issued orders that the Austrian armies should be maintained
-upon a war establishment, while Russia kept her troops in readiness,
-and appealed to the Poles to stand by their country. Whilst Metternich
-warmly opposed the establishment of Russian Poland as a kingdom under
-any circumstances, England was desirous it should be placed on so firm
-a foundation, as to serve as an obstacle to the encroachments of the
-Russian cabinet.
-
- [6] Suzeraineté.
-
-Serious events already obliged Metternich to turn his attention towards
-Italy, and here we must look back upon events of a rather earlier
-date. As far back as the month of February 1813, England had taken
-advantage of some dissatisfaction entertained by Murat, and still
-more by Caroline, Napoleon's own sister, to hasten the downfall of
-the French empire. All the good people of Buonaparte's family appear
-to have taken their royalty in good earnest, and to have fancied they
-possessed some consequence of their own, and might remain kings and
-queens independent of the great emperor. England, clever at taking
-advantage of these little absurdities, reminded Murat of the example
-of Bernadotte, and suggested the possibility of his becoming king of
-all Italy. While Napoleon was abusing his brother-in-law in his haughty
-and violent letters, reminding him that "the lion was not dead," the
-English cabinet soothed with the most flattering hopes the imagination
-of Murat, who had but a poor head for politics, and every thing was
-brought into play that could flatter the vanity of the most theatrical
-soldier of the imperial era.
-
-At the close of the year 1813, Murat was already in the occupation of
-the Roman States, making an appeal to the patriots, for it was the
-custom of Europe at that time to march forward invoking the liberty of
-the people. To detach him from a bad cause, Metternich had particularly
-recourse to a gentle and tender influence, a pleasing reminiscence
-of his embassy in Paris, and he guaranteed to Murat the peaceable
-possession of the kingdom of Naples. After the re-establishment of
-the Bourbons in France gave rise to the strongest uneasiness in his
-astonished mind, King Joachim deputed the Duke of Serra Capriola to the
-Congress of Vienna, pleading his treaties with Austria and England;
-but his envoy was not admitted to the assembly, for a negotiation
-was on foot to replace the old dynasty of Sicily upon the throne,
-a negotiation conducted by Prince Talleyrand. Louis XVIII. had
-recommended the interests of his family to the Congress of Vienna, and
-M. de Talleyrand was to receive from the Neapolitan branch of the
-Bourbons a rich equivalent for his sadly compromised principality of
-Benevento. Austria was a little unmindful of her promises, and defended
-her engagements with Murat but very feebly; indeed, the general bent
-towards the restoration of the former order of things was so strong,
-that he who had usurped the crown of Naples was actually declared
-guilty of treason. In the English House of Commons, Lord Castlereagh
-read a private correspondence, carried on with Napoleon at the very
-moment when Murat was negotiating with the Alliance, which afforded
-evidence of a double policy having been pursued. Having become uneasy
-concerning the resolutions of the Congress of Vienna, he made vast
-military preparations, in concert with the patriots and the secret
-societies, with the intention of assuming the great crown of Italy.
-Metternich caused the Austrian armies to assemble _en masse_ in the
-Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, where they awaited under arms the coming
-events.
-
-The storm soon burst.
-
-Napoleon then landed in the Gulf of Juan to attempt his heroic exploit
-of the Hundred Days. Matters were in a strangely complicated state
-at the Congress of Vienna, and Napoleon, looking at the affairs of
-Europe under one point of view only, had formed a fair judgment of the
-condition of the allied powers with regard to each other, without,
-however, comprehending that his presence on the Continent would unite
-them all in a terrible coalition. The very name of Buonaparte filled
-the old European sovereignties with so much alarm, that they recovered
-themselves with the utmost haste, in order to take measures for the
-general safety.
-
-They owed to the activity of Talleyrand and Metternich the official
-declaration of the Congress of Vienna, which placed Buonaparte at
-the ban of Europe, simultaneously roused against the common enemy.
-The mystic spirit of Alexander entered willingly into the idea of a
-Christian alliance and a European crusade, and Metternich, after the
-system he had adopted ever since the rupture in 1813, could not depart
-from the military agreement entered into at Chaumont. Napoleon was
-declared at the ban of the empire by a revived custom of the ancient
-assemblies of the German Diet.
-
-The pretended agreement between Napoleon, Austria, and England, at
-the time of his landing in the Gulf of Juan, was a romance invented
-afterwards by the imperialist party. Napoleon, who was well informed
-concerning the diplomatic state of things, might imagine a separation
-of interests among the cabinets a probable thing, but beyond this
-there was nothing. One of his first steps was to endeavour to place
-himself in communication with Metternich, and we again find Fouché in
-correspondence with the chief of the Austrian cabinet: they had never
-lost sight of each other since their memorable conference in 1809,
-and their acquaintance was renewed in 1813, when Fouché was appointed
-Governor-General of Illyria. I have reason to believe, that they had
-even then spoken to each other in confidence concerning the decline of
-power of _that man_, as the disaffected called Napoleon, and of the
-possibility of a regency under Maria Louisa; in 1813 the subject they
-would select for their conversation would probably be the abdication
-of the Emperor, which was one of the favourite ideas of the senatorial
-party. At the same time Napoleon wrote to Maria Louisa, he despatched,
-by means of some secret agents, confidential letters from intimate
-friends of the minister, and even from a princess of the imperial
-blood, between whom and Prince Metternich a tender feeling had existed:
-and finally, in order to sow dissension throughout the whole of
-Europe, he transmitted to the Emperor Alexander a copy of the treaty
-of the triple alliance, concluded against Russia in the month of March
-1815, and signed by Lord Castlereagh, Talleyrand, and Metternich: his
-primary object was to break the powerful union among the sovereigns.
-
-At this period, the Austrian armies had marched into Italy against
-Murat and the Neapolitans, and General Bianchi had obtained the most
-brilliant victories over the wavering and ill-organised troops of
-Joachim. Metternich caused all the fortresses of the kingdom of Naples
-and the Roman States to be garrisoned by Austrian troops; for he had
-decided, in concert with the French legation, upon the re-establishment
-of the House of Bourbon at Naples as completing the scheme of the
-government of Europe.
-
-While Fouché was negotiating with Metternich a plan for substituting
-the regency under Maria Louisa to the empire, organised as it had
-been during the hundred days, French agents were contriving means
-of carrying off the child who had been saluted in his cradle with
-the title of King of Rome. A great deal of mystification went on in
-all this; there was even one of these gentlemen, otherwise, too, a
-man in good society, who received a large sum of money, but who had
-in reality no other object than that of joining M. de Talleyrand at
-Vienna. Napoleon had promised that his wife and son would be present
-at the Champ de Mai, but Metternich's police baffled the intentions
-of the French agents, and, with the politeness which characterises
-all his actions, the minister conducted the daughter of the emperor
-and the Duke de Reichstadt to the palace of Schönbrunn, under an
-escort of the most trustworthy servants of the house of Austria. It
-was one of the most delicate circumstances that occurred during the
-life of Metternich, a man, too, always remarkable for his attention
-to propriety; for Maria Louisa did not at that time feel the cold
-indifference for Napoleon which she afterwards exhibited, and she was
-a party to the project formed for carrying her off, by some attendants
-who had remained with her, but who now all received an order to quit
-Schönbrunn.
-
-The Austrian armies proceeded from Italy across the Alps, and took a
-part in the melancholy invasion of the south of France; they afterwards
-occupied Provence and Languedoc as far as Auvergne, their head-quarters
-being at Lyons and Dijon. On the dissolution of the Congress of Vienna,
-after the second fall of Napoleon, Metternich repaired to Paris, to be
-present at the conferences which were to precede the treaty of November
-1815. Prussia and England had been victorious at Waterloo, and their
-interest had proportionally increased. In the negotiations of Paris,
-the two cabinets of Berlin and Vienna acted in concert to represent the
-interests of Germany, which were very hostile to the French nation.
-The German population had been greatly irritated during the gigantic
-efforts that Europe had made against Napoleon; the secondary princes
-on the banks of the Rhine demanded Alsace and a portion of Lorraine,
-marked upon a map drawn in 1815 (which now lies before me), under
-the name of Germania, as the representation of Germany. There was a
-terrible reaction in that country against France, one of those refluxes
-of the people and the national feeling by which various periods of our
-history have been distinguished.
-
-Nevertheless, what organisation, exterior or interior, did they intend
-to establish, to form a general constitution in Germany? How could they
-restore to the Emperor Francis the influence in that country which he
-formerly possessed, but of which he had been deprived by Napoleon?
-Germany had arisen with the double cry of liberty and unity on her
-lips. Unity! how was it to be established among principalities of
-which the power and the population varied so greatly, and who still
-maintained the feudal principle in the midst of civilised Europe? And
-liberty! it was an indefinite expression; how could it be applied
-to so many different systems of government, and to so many various
-localities whose interests were so distinct from each other? The scheme
-of the Confederation of the Rhine had been formed by Napoleon solely
-with a view of increasing the importance of all the petty states, and
-of inducing them to enter into a coalition hostile to Austria and
-Prussia. Now circumstances were altered; Austria and Prussia were
-the great predominant powers, whose business it was to establish
-their own influence, and govern the whole confederation by means of a
-protectorate, more or less clearly defined; Prussia assuming the power
-in the northern provinces, Austria to the south. It was necessary,
-when the fatherland should be threatened, that its mixed population
-should be capable of being called forth to serve indifferently in the
-armies of Prussia and Austria. The unity of the German states was thus
-opposed as a barrier against Russia and France, and served equally as a
-protection against both those nations.
-
-Metternich, when he gave up the old imperial mantle in the name of
-the emperor, obtained for him a more real advantage as president of
-the diet; a number of votes were awarded to Austria and Prussia, in
-proportion to the importance of their position; and either by means of
-their command of the army of the confederation, or by their influence
-in the diet, these two countries held undisputed sway over the
-deliberations and the employment of the troops. No doubt, many little
-acts of injustice were committed, and some caprice was exhibited in
-the repartition of the states and of the contingents. Sovereignties
-were sometimes aggrandised because they were protected by the Emperor
-Alexander, and, sometimes, even by Metternich; but where are the
-human operations over which perfect justice presides? Since they were
-desirous of unity, this sacrifice of some to the cause of all was the
-natural consequence of it; and should it now be asked, what is to be
-the result of this confederation, I reply, that Austria has reason to
-fear lest Prussia should assume a constantly increasing importance in
-Germany. The destiny of Austria henceforth is elsewhere, her future
-lies in the south; Prussia is too singularly situated not to strive to
-agglomerate her dominions; she will undoubtedly do so, either in point
-of fact, by means of conquest, or morally, by the influence she will
-exercise. It is towards the shores of the Adriatic that Austria will
-find herself indemnified for the diminution of her influence in central
-Germany.
-
-The cry of liberty had been raised in Germany when it roused itself
-against Napoleon; and the secret societies of Schill and Stein still
-had representatives in old Blucher and General Gniesenau. What did the
-government propose doing for the liberty they demanded? Constitutions
-had been promised, and representative states were granted to some
-principalities, but, the victory being once obtained, there was
-hesitation about proceeding any farther.
-
-Now that experience has made us perfectly acquainted with the spirit of
-revolutions, it is easy to understand how, in the rapid alteration of
-political situations, the promises of to-day are violated to-morrow.
-It is in vain to imagine that these periods of transition, when the
-people struggle for crochets of sovereignty, can bear a comparison with
-seasons when the proceedings of the government are calm and regular;
-after victory the popular excitement shews itself unreasonable, and
-wants to insist upon promises the government is no longer able to
-perform.
-
-In 1813, during the period of battles and revolutions, many things
-had been promised to Germany; but was it possible to perform them in
-1815 and 1816? Suppose that in Germany, that country of excitement
-and mystical spirit, the utopias of the secret societies had been
-realised,--a political existence given to the universities, and a
-turbulent representation to all the states,--that they had granted them
-the liberty of the press and an organised democracy,--would Germany
-ever have reached the high degree of prosperity and public tranquillity
-she now enjoys? We must take customs as they exist, and minds with
-the habits they have formed; we must not give a people institutions
-which would be a torment to their existence without increasing their
-well-being. I do not say that the governments of Austria and Prussia
-acted rightly in not fulfilling their promises--I merely say, that
-time alone can shew whether this conduct proceeded from prudence, or
-from a calculating spirit of selfishness. The events of 1814 and 1815
-had considerably increased the possessions of Austria in Italy, and,
-as this was really a country obtained by conquests, it was natural
-and necessary that an armed surveillance should be established in the
-Lombardo-Venetian territory, as well as a police capable of controlling
-the provinces united to the Austrian empire. The utmost ability will
-be required to slacken successively the springs of this police, in
-proportion as the victors may be more firmly established in their
-foreign possessions. To have granted free constitutions to the people
-would have been an imprudent generosity, for this conquest, like those
-of Napoleon, could only be maintained by military occupation, which it
-was desirable to render as little oppressive as circumstances would
-permit. The Italians, a hot and enthusiastic people, had driven out the
-French in the day of their calamity; the Austrians should endeavour to
-avoid a similar misfortune, and keep carefully upon their guard.
-
-Here begins the melodrama which has been cast around the person of
-Prince Metternich, with the picture of the cruel prisons and Piombi of
-Venice. I appeal to the Christian sincerity and good faith of Silvio
-Pellico, whether there be one word of real truth in his book, _Le
-mie Prigioni_. Does he call to mind the terrible Piombi of Venice,
-which, in his case, consisted of a room on the fourth floor in the
-ducal palace, commanding a most extensive view over the Great Canal,
-and for which Lord Byron would have paid some hundreds of sequins?
-He was deprived of his liberty, it is true; and this is, no doubt, a
-deplorable misfortune: but had he engaged in a conspiracy?--had he
-attempted to overturn the established government? He avows that he had
-done so, and in attempts of this kind a man sets his liberty and
-
-                    "Life upon a cast,
-And he must stand the hazard of the die."
-
-The Austrian cabinet, no doubt, takes ample precautionary measures, but
-there is no cruelty or oppression in its system; and whoever has had an
-opportunity of conversing with Prince Metternich ought to ask himself,
-whether it is possible a man of so calm and reasonable an intellect
-should be guilty of an act of barbarity without even a motive for his
-conduct?
-
-The strict repressive measures upon which the system of Prince
-Metternich in Germany and Italy is founded occasioned a movement of
-reaction; for liberty, that master passion of the mind, does not
-allow itself to be crushed without making some despairing efforts.
-Far from the secret societies having been dissolved in Germany, they
-were regularly organised in the universities among the students,
-and the heated state of their minds was encouraged by the influence
-of poetry and the political writings, which called upon the courage
-and patriotism of all those who possessed noble hearts to lend their
-assistance to the German unity. This unity, so loudly appealed to
-by the young generation, was in reality only a sort of federative
-republic, in which all the states, while enjoying their individual
-freedom, were to be united by the practice of virtue, and would thus
-tend to the general happiness of mankind. The old German sovereignties
-were obliged to curb these associations, which burst forth in the
-assassination of Kotzebue.
-
-Metternich had just been travelling in Italy when the universities
-distinguished themselves by this sanguinary crime. He was loaded
-with the benefits of his sovereign; he now bore the title of prince,
-and stars of almost all the orders of knighthood in Europe glittered
-on his breast. The state of fermentation which existed in Germany
-had not escaped his statesmanlike penetration, and it was solely at
-his suggestion that a congress took place at Carlsbad, where severe
-and distrustful measures were adopted against the organisation of
-the public schools in Germany. The conduct of the universities, the
-repression of seditious writings, the establishment of a political
-police,--nothing was neglected in this regular crusade, undertaken by
-the government against the revolutionary feelings by which the heated
-imaginations were then inflamed. After great disturbances have taken
-place in a state, the sole anxiety of the government is to check any
-disposition to disorder, and they are excited to do so by public
-opinion, and by the middle classes, who entertain a dread of fresh
-revolutions, and with good reason.
-
-In the year of the Congress of Carlsbad, the Propaganda menaced the
-kingdoms of Europe with a fresh revolution. Let us observe accurately
-their situation in 1820. Towards the south there was the insurrection
-of Spain and the Cortes, and the proclamation of a government more
-liberal than even that of England; at Naples, almost by a magical echo,
-the constitution was also proclaimed; from Naples the cry of liberty
-was heard in Piémont, and the king was deprived of his throne. In Paris
-the disturbances were so great that the government was exposed every
-evening to a change in its political system. This year of 1820 might be
-considered as the first edition of the stupendous event of July, which
-took place ten years later with all the fracas of an insurrection.
-
-Austria was particularly endangered by these revolutions, for the
-extremities of the kingdom of Naples and Piémont came in close contact
-with her Italian possessions. The people had declared themselves; the
-sovereigns then became aware of the danger, and roused themselves for
-their defence; congresses were held at Troppau and at Laybach, and
-Metternich, without hesitation, urged the adoption of powerful measures
-to quell the revolutionary spirit now manifested; he was so deeply
-convinced of their indispensable necessity, that he opposed every kind
-of delay, and only required the moral support of Prussia and Russia,
-declaring at once that an Austrian army was about to march into Italy
-and occupy Naples and Piémont. The Emperor Alexander, whose mind was
-full of the dread of secret societies and plots in Europe, lent his
-support to Metternich. There was but one single instance of opposition
-with regard to Piémont, and it is known from whence proceeded these
-objections. To such a degree has history been disfigured! It proceeded
-from the dignity of Louis XVIII., and the despatches of the Duc de
-Richelieu and M. Pasquier. The revolutionary spirit was breaking out in
-the streets of Paris in 1820, and the restored sovereign declared to
-Metternich, that if the Austrian army entered Piémont their occupation
-could not be of long continuance, as France could not allow of the
-Austrians upon the Alps.
-
-In this _wrestling_, to use the old expression of M. Bignon, the
-cabinets had the advantage over the people. Naples was overcome in
-a few marches, and Piémont was occupied by the Austrian troops. The
-repressive impulse being once given, a combined system was every where
-manifested with the design of suspending political liberty. War was
-declared by the cabinets against all forms of government which owed
-their birth to military excitement or to an exclusively revolutionary
-spirit. Metternich was present at the Congress of Verona, a meeting
-which appears to me to have been the final expression of the will of
-Europe regarding the spirit of insurrection. France was charged with
-the suppression of the Spanish Cortes, as Metternich had executed by
-force of arms the will of the allied powers against Naples and Piémont.
-Here the cabinets were again successful, the revolution was completely
-suppressed, as far as regarded its power of action, and only kept a
-place in the disordered imagination.
-
-All these acts of government, and all the proclamations which followed
-the assembly of the Congress, were the especial work of Prince
-Metternich. The Chancellor of Austria possesses a remarkable flow of
-language, a pure taste, and a noble manner of expressing his ideas,
-even in a diplomatic despatch, where the sense is almost always hidden
-under technical, and, it may be added, heavy modes of speech. To him
-is owing the style distinguished by the elevation of ideas, which
-always appeals to posterity and to the justice of future times, from
-the opinion formed by contemporary passions. He even allows himself
-to be carried on too far by his anxiety to express his meaning, and
-by the literary ornament he is desirous of conferring upon the most
-trifling despatch that leaves his cabinet; he takes the principal part
-in their composition, he writes in French with extreme elegance and
-precision, and he reads all the newspapers regularly, even to the part
-which contains merely literary and theatrical critiques. Those who saw
-him in 1825, when the unfortunate illness of his wife obliged him to
-visit Paris, were surprised to find him possessed of the most exquisite
-literary taste. He was acquainted with all our good authors, and shewed
-remarkable sagacity in the judgment he formed of the writers of our own
-times. One could hardly imagine how a politician, whose life had been
-spent in affairs of so much importance, could have found time to study
-the most trifling productions of literature.
-
-Affairs were now settled in Europe. The governments began to emerge a
-little from the undecided political condition proclaimed by the Holy
-Alliance. From the beginning of the year 1827, Metternich had felt some
-uneasiness concerning the proceedings of Russia with regard to the
-Ottoman Porte, which was likely to be productive of extreme danger to
-the Austrian influence. If the Russian projects were realised, Austria
-would see herself deprived of her ascendancy over the Porte, which was
-nearly as old as that of France. At this time Metternich caused the
-French ministry to be sounded, but he was hardly listened to, for the
-most decided negotiations were in progress between the three cabinets
-of Russia, London, and Paris, on the Greek question; and here it
-is well to explain the refusal of Metternich to interfere with the
-transactions which led to the treaty of July 1827.
-
-Since the year 1824, the cause of the Greeks had assumed a degree of
-consistency and a European character. Every era has its policy of
-sentiments, and people were now infatuated with a classic fanaticism
-for the Greeks. No doubt there was something glorious in the heroism
-which strove to burst the chain of the barbarians; but the enthusiastic
-declarations of Russia, her strong and pressing despatches in favour
-of the Greeks, were, in their main object, less the expression of a
-religious sympathy than the proceedings of a skilful policy, which
-sought to abase the Ottoman Porte, in order subsequently to reduce it
-into a state of vassalage. Russia, therefore, applied to Charles X.,
-by speaking of the cross which had brought salvation to the world. In
-England it roused into action the Greek committee, and it was under
-the influence of these philanthropic prepossessions that the treaty of
-July 1827, and the battle of Navarino, which was the consequence of
-it, led to serious uneasiness on the part of Metternich. This minister
-instantly divined the full consequences of this shortsighted policy.
-The battle of Navarino, by crippling the power of the Porte, killed
-it, in a political sense, for the advantage of Russia: it was the
-prelude to the campaign of 1828 to the Balkan. Russia had succeeded in
-getting M. de la Ferronays placed at the head of foreign affairs in
-France: he was an honest man, but rather Russian in his inclinations
-and habits; consequently, Metternich could not draw France into a
-scheme of confederation and armed league against Russia. He was more
-fortunate in England with the Duke of Wellington, who acknowledged the
-mistake into which Mr. Canning had fallen, and pronounced the battle
-of Navarino _an untoward event_. England had thus returned to a perfect
-understanding of which were her real interests.
-
-People may ask, why did not Metternich at this time decide upon war?
-how came it that he did not at once take part with the Ottoman Porte?
-It was in consequence of the fixed system of the Austrian chancellor;
-he has gained every thing through peace. The conquests of Austria are
-owing to her pacific principles--to the species of armed neutrality
-which is always ready at the proper moment to obtain some advantage.
-A war would have compromised its general position in Europe. Being on
-good terms with England, and in concert with that nation, the Austrian
-cabinet stayed the victory; it was gaining something during the Russian
-expedition of 1829, but it was not enough.
-
-During this time events were advancing in France towards an unavoidable
-crisis; the ministry of M. de Polignac had just been formed. Under a
-merely political point of view, this was an advantage for Austria,
-for the Russian system had been abandoned, and they had entered into
-all the English ideas concerning the Eastern question; still a mind
-possessed of so much penetration could not fail to entertain great
-anxiety while watching so earnest a struggle between the political
-powers in a country like France, which had been accustomed to give an
-impulse to the rest of Europe. It is said that Metternich advised a
-_coup-d'état_: does this idea evince an acquaintance with the spirit
-of moderation and the capacity of the prime minister of Austria? A
-_coup-d'état_ is too decided and too noisy a step ever to enter into
-the mind of Prince Metternich: when a difficult situation occurs, he
-does not attack it in front--he turns it; and, when he shews himself
-very determined in a strong and firm resolution, it is because people's
-minds are already made up, and there is no longer any risk in having
-recourse to it. The Chancellor of the Empire was too well aware of
-the folly of M. de Polignac, and of the want of firmness of Charles
-X., to be ignorant that they were incapable of conducting a perilous
-undertaking to a prosperous termination. In the Foreign Office there
-is a despatch on this subject from M. de Rayneval, then ambassador at
-Vienna, who details one of his conversations with Prince Metternich,
-precisely upon these _coups-d'état_; it was much the subject of
-conversation at Vienna, and the uneasiness entertained concerning the
-system followed by M. de Polignac is revealed in more than one despatch
-addressed to M. d'Appony, the Austrian ambassador at Paris.
-
-Then broke out the revolution of July, an event of prodigious
-importance. Europe had never been in so much danger; for what were the
-ideas that led to the eruption? Was it not the spirit of the secret
-societies?--republicanism again triumphant in France, the country
-which, for the last forty years, had been accustomed to give the
-general impulse to continental Europe? The Propaganda principles had
-for their leader that old and obstinate spirit, General Lafayette, who
-again went to make an appeal to the independence of the people, as he
-had done in 1792. A few Frenchmen, and the tricoloured flag displayed
-every where, might have caused a general conflagration. What was to
-be done? A young, ardent, and inexperienced minister would, perhaps,
-have engaged in a war; what a happiness it was for the friends of peace
-that Prussia was governed by a wise king, whose mind was rendered
-moderate by age, and Austria by a minister who had witnessed so many
-storms without being frightened by them! One of the principal traits of
-Metternich's character is his perfect freedom from prejudice, either
-against or in favour of persons or events, so that he forms a judgment
-of them all with a degree of superiority. He therefore awaited the
-event of the revolution in a posture of defence; Austria merely held
-herself in readiness, and military precautions, combined with the
-renewal of political alliances, enabled her to oppose a barrier to all
-the invasions of a revolutionary spirit. This moderation was carried
-so far, that, as soon as a regular government was established in
-France, Metternich hastened to recognise it, without expressing either
-dislike or predilection, solely upon the principle that a regular
-government is always a protection to order and public peace. Since this
-time, Metternich has appeared to follow three rules of conduct, which
-govern the whole tenour of his political life. First, to enter into
-a close alliance with Russia and Austria for the suppression of all
-disturbances in Europe, and, consequently, to renew all the military
-contracts entered into at Chaumont in 1814, and Vienna in 1815;
-secondly, to combat the spirit of Propaganda, under whatever form it
-may appear; and this was a very laborious task, for the revolution of
-July had not only dispersed mischievous principles in Europe, but its
-money, its emissaries, its flag, and its hopes, had been circulated
-in every direction; and, thirdly, the Propaganda spirit having been
-every where diffused, Metternich had felt the necessity of augmenting
-both the military forces of Austria, and also her vigorous police
-establishment. The executive government has every where become more
-severe, because it was exposed to more danger. Liberty has sometimes
-been confounded with a revolutionary spirit in the system of strict
-repression that has been adopted; and it was unavoidable, perhaps,
-even necessary, in the complete overthrow of every thing that had been
-contemplated.
-
-The empire of Austria is composed of so many different nations,
-that political unity would be as impossible in that empire as in the
-Russian, which extends over the half of two hemispheres. All that
-can be looked for is liberty in their local constitutions, and in
-establishments quite in accordance with the spirit of the States,
-and more especially with their situation with regard to the Austrian
-government. The most prejudiced people agree that no country can be
-more peaceably governed than the hereditary states; the other provinces
-which have been successively attached to it require more active
-precautions and a more watchful police; but civil liberty, which is,
-indeed, the first of all, is even there complete and entire. Let us not
-exaggerate; I do not propose the Austrian government as a model--I am
-too great an admirer of liberty and of the institutions of my country
-not to remain deeply attached to them, but I also give their due to
-the manners and customs of the people; and we well know that there are
-some countries that require to be governed, because they are utterly
-incapable of governing themselves. When travelling in Italy, I have
-often asked myself whether all these nations, indolently at variance
-with each other, who possess more genius than national vigour, more
-liveliness and intelligence than strength and reason, could ever aspire
-to a laborious liberty under the dominion of the greatly extolled
-Unity, which must have been obtained sword in hand--in fact, if this
-rich and lovely Italy, like a charming coquette, was not under the
-necessity of submitting to the rule of some one, because she has not
-sufficient energy to master either her love or her hatred.
-
-The administration of Prince Metternich appears to be deeply imbued
-with this sentiment, which has been severely put to the proof by him,
-that if civil liberty is necessary to all, political liberty is only
-desirable for a few, so far as it does not affect the character and
-the safety of government. Protection should be granted to talent, but
-it ought to be serious talent, which will not evaporate in pamphlets;
-improvement, no doubt, is desirable, but it should take place without
-turbulence. The house of Austria has a great dread of noise, she is
-afraid of being talked of; never striving after _éclat_ or clamorous
-liberty, she resembles those German professors who amass a store of
-erudition and science in some dusty corner of the university, and who
-only publish a few scarce copies of their works for the use of the
-learned.
-
-The private life of Prince Metternich has been repeatedly visited
-with domestic affliction. Mourning has darkened his dwelling, and the
-distractions of the busy world have not always been able to mitigate
-his grief. In private society his manners are affable, and he enjoys
-the repose of home after the fatigues of his vast ministerial duties.
-A clever writer has observed that he spends great part of his time
-in conversation; it is a propensity indulged in by men who have seen
-every thing--they take pleasure in _talking history_ in their fireside
-conversations, which are carefully preserved by their auditors. And
-who has not listened with delight to M. Talleyrand, when he used to
-give vent to his recollections? Prince Metternich has written long and
-curious memoirs, full of justificatory notes, for he considers himself
-at the bar of posterity. His work is a great one, and, as I said at the
-commencement of this sketch, all the glory and all the responsibility
-of it will rest with him. When we look back upon what Austria was
-after the peace of Presburg, and that we contemplate her now, greater
-than she had ever been, with her public credit, her ascendancy among
-the European states, the peace and the government of her provinces,
-her civil and military organisation, and then consider that all this
-is the work of _one_ minister, who has governed the empire for the
-last thirty years, we may easily form an idea of some of the judgments
-of posterity. We are ourselves surrounded by ruins, both of men and
-things; government, administration, ministry, every thing, has fallen
-to pieces, and when, from the midst of the wreck the revolutions have
-brought upon us, we turn our eyes upon a countenance which has remained
-unmoved among all the ravages of time, it appears as if it did not
-belong to the present period; we look back upon Richelieu, upon those
-ministers who laid down a system, and then carried it onward to its
-completion.
-
-Prince Metternich has reached an advanced age, yet he preserves all
-his faculties perfectly, with a ready wit that is admirable, and a
-freshness of recollection, which turns with extreme pleasure to the
-time of the French Empire and his embassy to Paris during the reign of
-Napoleon. We have all some favourite period of our lives, and we love
-particularly to dwell upon the days of our youth, before the illusions
-which charmed us had entirely faded away. He always speaks with great
-respect of the Emperor Napoleon, whose noble countenance exercised an
-unspeakable influence over his future life. Wherever that great genius
-passed, it left an indelible impression; and it was by the desire of
-Metternich that the remains of the Duke de Reichstadt were placed
-beside those of Maria Theresa and Francis II. in the vault of the
-Capuchin Church. It is a fine idea of the emperors of Austria to choose
-their last abode in the church of the most lowly of religious orders,
-to humble their greatness before the poorest brethren of the Christian
-church. The Capuchins have every thing in common, among them there is
-no property, no distinction between mine and thine. Babœuf was only
-a plagiary from them without the moral idea of heaven, which purifies
-and sanctifies every thing.
-
-The house of Austria is accustomed to be governed by old ministers,
-and its traditionary spirit takes pleasure in it. In politics it is
-often better to do well than to do a great deal, to act after due
-deliberation than to act hastily, and then return to deliberate. Prince
-Metternich is not an enemy to any form of government that has order
-for its basis; and this offers an explanation of his conduct since
-the revolution. When the Propaganda was heard every where, he decided
-strongly in favour of war, and his expression to the French ambassador
-at Vienna is well known: "If we must perish, it is just as well to die
-of apoplexy as to be suffocated with a slow fire; we will declare for
-war."
-
-The wisdom of the French government, its salutary repression of
-every Propaganda spirit, maintained peace. Since that period the
-Austrian minister, in all questions of any importance, has preserved
-the position of an armed mediator, with the invariable desire of
-preserving peace, and what he terms the European _status quo_. He does
-not consider the present time requires agitation, war, or conquest.
-According to him, it is a season of organisation, and, by the position
-he gives to his monarchy, he holds the balance even, so as to prevent
-any conflict between the north and south of Europe. He said to me
-wittily one day: "I am, to a certain degree, the confessor of all the
-cabinets; I give absolution to those who have committed the fewest
-sins, and I thus maintain peace in their souls."
-
-In this situation it is easier for Metternich to employ himself
-in particular improvements. Austria is in a remarkable state of
-prosperity; we ought to be proud of our France, and it undoubtedly is
-a fine country, but, with our national pride, we form singular ideas
-upon the state of other people; and yet, among them also, we may every
-where observe signs of very forward civilisation, commerce, industry,
-railroads, with pleasing and kind hospitality, all are to be met with
-in the Austrian states; without speaking of the intellectual movement
-more sober, and as far advanced as in our country of little romances,
-novels, theatrical, and literary critiques.
-
-Men who like to bring circumstances together have sometimes instituted
-a comparison between Prince Metternich and Prince Kaunitz, who was so
-long at the head of the Austrian government. Although these parallels
-are always rather arbitrary, and that the different shades in the human
-character are innumerable, we may safely affirm in this instance,
-that there never existed two minds more completely opposed to each
-other; the only point of resemblance consists in the duration of their
-administration. Prince Kaunitz, altogether weakened by the ideas of the
-eighteenth century, allowed the Austrian empire to degenerate into a
-state of supineness and indolence. Prince Metternich, on the contrary,
-has reconstructed and consolidated this monarchy; he has retained
-nothing of Prince Kaunitz's system, except its extreme moderation, and
-the traditions of _status quo_, adopted after the great reign of Maria
-Theresa. After Metternich, will Austria follow a different system? Will
-the statesman that appears likely to succeed him adopt a less prudent
-and more advanced plan? We do not believe it. It is in Austria with
-the ministers as with the heirs of the throne in England; before their
-accession they aim at popularity, and, when once at the head of the
-government, they continue the proceedings of the former reign, because
-reason and experience are of some value, and that the magnificent
-part of Austria is to place itself as an idea of pacification between
-empires which would strike against each other with too much violence.
-
-
-
-
-M. DE TALLEYRAND.[7]
-
- [7] M. de Talleyrand, who had naturally an inclination in favour of
- ancient honours, preferred his title of duke of the old monarchy to
- his principality; for the title of prince, unless in connexion with
- the Blood Royal, was considered as of foreign extraction, and not to
- possess any aristocratic importance.
-
-
-One of the torments of a statesman who has played a great part in
-politics is to see his conduct subjected to the judgment of ignoble
-minds and the discussions of people incapable of forming a just
-estimate of it. How much has been written concerning M. de Talleyrand!
-how many _bons mots_, and how many rude sayings have been attributed to
-him! His biography has been made a sort of _Ana_, for the amusement of
-idle people; he has been represented as a kind of facetious personage,
-almost a mountebank, abounding in all the little wit of society, and of
-provincial towns. Few men have pierced through the mysteries of that
-long existence; still fewer have read in the wrinkles of this old man,
-and in his eyes, still sparkling under his slightly contracted brows,
-the secret thoughts, the powerful motives that swayed his life, which
-was one of unity and system.
-
-If you have ever travelled in the southern part of France, you must
-have lingered in the Périgord, the province which still comprehends
-the best and the most numerous nobility of very ancient descent in the
-whole kingdom. There you will on every side meet with memorials of the
-Bosons and the Talleyrands, the sovereign princes of the province of
-Quercy: the keepers of the old records will recount to you the exploits
-of the Bosons of Périgord, under the Wolf dukes during the Carlovingian
-dynasty, who received this name from their wild exploits in the
-forests. The families of Talleyrand and Montesquiou-Fezensac disputed
-with each other the precedence over all the southern nobility. M. de
-Talleyrand sprang from the younger branch of the Grignols, who were
-of the stock of André de Talleyrand, Comte de Grignols, the youngest
-branch of the Périgord family; the eldest branch became extinct upon
-the death of Marie Francoise, Princess of Chalais, and Marchioness of
-Exideuil.[8]
-
- [8] The arms of M. de Talleyrand were, Gules, three lions, or, langued,
- armed, and crowned azure, prince's coronet on the shield, ducal crown
- on the mantle. Device, _Re que Diou_ (Nothing but God above us).
-
-I have been particular in dwelling upon the high nobility of his
-origin, because it greatly assisted his position in diplomatic affairs.
-Noble birth, however people may declaim against it, facilitates
-negotiations with European powers. Be it a weakness, be it a habit,
-when a man takes his place as a titled nobleman, among so many
-foreigners of illustrious birth, it is an advantage to his position; he
-treats on a footing of equality, he obtains more because he is among
-his peers, misfortune does not upset him, because he preserves his name
-in spite of every thing; he cannot be degraded, for revolutions no more
-deprive him of the nobility of his race, than the royal confiscations
-that formerly took place could destroy the old family coat-of-arms.
-
-Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord was born at Paris in the year
-1754; his maternal grandmother was the clever and witty Princess
-des Ursins, that eminent person who directed the councils of Philip
-V. of Spain, as her friend Madame de Maintenon governed the mind of
-Louis XIV. M. de Talleyrand, being the youngest of the family, was
-intended for holy orders, according to the custom of the nobility,
-who devoted themselves to the profession of arms, to the church,
-or the manor; an active life was necessary to men of family. There
-had always been a high prelate of the house of Talleyrand, and this
-ecclesiastical dignity was intended for the young Abbé of Périgord,
-who was accordingly sent at the age of fourteen to the seminary of
-Saint-Sulpice. One ought to have heard Talleyrand himself, in his hours
-of gaiety and unreserve, recount the pranks and first love-affair of
-the young abbé; his scaling the walls, his visits to the roof of the
-house,--all of them things little suitable to the serious profession
-for which he was intended by his family. I think that in reading his
-Memoirs in the year 1827-28, at which time he was out of favour, he
-made some concessions to the little philosophers of the eighteenth
-century, who surrounded him under the Restoration.
-
-His ecclesiastical studies were limited; he occupied himself but little
-with theology, but already very much with business. The situation of
-general agent for the clergy was given him by the custom of his family,
-which was a very lucrative appointment, for he might be considered
-as the _chargé d'affaires_ of that great body, and he exhibited
-great method and remarkable judgment in the skilful application of
-the revenues of the church, which amounted to above one hundred and
-thirty-six millions of livres. The clergy met in a chapter every year,
-and the Abbé de Talleyrand gave an account of their revenues, of the
-steps he had taken, and the duties he had performed with regard to the
-court; his reports are remarkably exact, with a clearness of style that
-is very uncommon.
-
-At the age of five-and-thirty, after having attained the majority
-required by the Church, he was raised to the bishopric of Autun,--a
-fine appointment, which would afterwards lead to the archbishopric of
-Rheims and a cardinal's hat. The revenue of the see amounted to 60,000
-francs, a magnificent situation for a young bishop, but such was the
-custom of the nobility; nevertheless, the bent of his inclinations
-led him to belong to the philosophical society, and the followers of
-the English school, which began to appear upon the horizon in 1789;
-among these were Mirabeau, Cabanis, Lally-Tollendal, and Mounier, in
-fact all the men who were dreaming of a reform in France. People said
-wittily that M. de Talleyrand, bishop of Autun, with his prebend and
-his bishopric, looked upon himself as an abuse. At this time people
-were animated with a glorious passion for suppressing themselves;
-and when one recollects that the proposal to abolish the titles of
-nobility was made by De Montmorency, De Montesquiou, La Rochefoucauld,
-De Talleyrand, and Clermont-Tonnerre, those illustrious elders of the
-French nobility, one must honestly confess that an incomprehensible
-spirit of vertigo had taken possession of the French society. There
-was in this something so insane, so eccentric, that I imagine the
-ancient nobility must have been led by an interested motive towards the
-suppression of titles: during the last three centuries so many patents
-of nobility had been conferred, that the really illustrious families
-were no longer distinguished: there were too many titled plebeians.
-Now, if all titles were abolished by a decree, all this nobility of
-a modern date would be entirely suppressed, for it depended solely
-upon royal grants and letters patent written according to the caprice
-of the sovereign; whilst those who bore a historical name, as the
-Rochefoucaulds, the Montmorencys, and the Montesquious, had no need of
-deeds to prove their genealogy; it was part of the soil.
-
-The Abbé de Talleyrand was in possession of his rich bishopric of Autun
-when the States-General were convened, and he was appointed deputy of
-the clergy of his diocese to the Constituent Assembly, so remarkable
-from its adventurous spirit, the boldness of its conceptions, and its
-total want of connexion, and absence of all kind of unity or method,
-either moral or political. The Constituent Assembly was a great chaos,
-where the opinions of men of talent clashed with each other, where all
-sorts of extravagances were proposed in the executive government, and
-all the ideas most fitted to overturn the monarchy and the society of
-France were encouraged; Rousseau's social contract was applied to a
-people already old in its customs and civilisation.
-
-The Bishop of Autun shewed himself the most zealous protector of all
-these innovations; he proposed the abolition of titles, and vehemently
-advocated the civil constitution of the clergy; he also introduced into
-the public system of education all the ideas of false and mischievous
-philosophy which the eighteenth century had diffused in human minds.
-Along with the Marquis of Condorcet, and Cabanis, he was one of the
-adepts, and of the friends of Mirabeau, whom that statesman and popular
-orator used to employ for the furtherance of the interests of his
-intellectual dictatorship. They were accustomed to meet in the evening
-at Mirabeau's house, to prepare the projects which would resound the
-next day from the tribune of the assembly. Without being very well
-educated, the Bishop of Autun was gifted with an extremely fluent
-style, and a mode of expression remarkable for its clearness, and its
-elegant precision: the ancient high nobility certainly always possessed
-great natural talents; they had but little information, and yet they
-were eminently gifted with the power of expressing what they wished to
-say.
-
-The solemn festival of the confederation took place at this
-period, a singular proceeding of which the spirit has been greatly
-misrepresented: it was theatrical, for such is always necessary in
-France. In the Champ de Mars an altar was erected, surmounted by
-tricoloured flags, upon a scaffolding fifty feet high, ornamented with
-ribands, also of the national colours. Then came M. de Lafayette,
-at that time a very handsome man, with his courteous and somewhat
-hypocritical countenance beaming with smiles, mounted upon his
-snow-white, slender, prancing steed, and wearing the uniform of the
-National Guard with long skirts and a three-cornered hat on his head,
-as it was the fashion at the time of the American War. He was then
-trying on his royal dignity. Around him crowded the deputations from
-the Departments with their flags; there were many drunken people, as it
-was natural there should be, and others tired with having wheeled earth
-from the Champ de Mars; and there was a plentiful exchange of kisses
-and embraces, according to the system so approved by Lamourette. At the
-foot of the altar of which I have spoken appeared M. de Talleyrand,
-bishop of Autun, dressed in his pontifical habits, his mitre on his
-head, a crosier in his hand, and with manners as elegant, as much
-refinement, and as studiously dignified a demeanour, as he afterwards
-discovered when carrying his crutch stick into the assembly of the
-corps diplomatique: kneeling beside him was the Abbé Louis (afterwards
-Minister of Finance) one of the curates, in his alb and surplice.
-
-The mass was celebrated with due solemnity by the Bishop of Autun; but
-there is a tradition which, for the honour and character of Talleyrand,
-we will believe to be unfounded, that when Mirabeau passed beside
-the altar the officiating pontiff addressed to him some expressions
-of mockery and irreligion, which must have weighed heavily upon
-his conscience on his death-bed. There are, unfortunately, seasons
-of youth and evil passions, when people give way to anti-Christian
-ideas, and at that time a degree of impiety was the fashion. Was
-it not then considered good taste to ridicule the holy and noble
-ceremonies of the Catholic religion? Talleyrand took a part in all
-the anti-religious proceedings of the Constituent Assembly upon the
-situation of the clergy in France, and he was commissioned to apply the
-civil constitution to his diocese, but the powerful opposition of his
-clergy did not permit him to accomplish his purpose, for the greater
-part of the parish priests refused to take the oath. He was present
-at the consecration of the first constitutional bishops, and, if this
-devoted conduct was considered deserving of praise by the assembly, it
-was regarded in a very different light elsewhere, and drew upon him the
-excommunication of the holy see. Pope Pius VI. published a bull against
-the Bishop of Autun, in which he declared him out of the pale of the
-Church, for having become an adherent of the civil constitution of
-the clergy. This step needs no explanation, such a constitution being
-in its very essence subversive of all Catholic faith. It was a work
-of the ultra-Jansenist party, and so thoroughly overstepped all the
-established rules, that it allowed the Jews and Protestants belonging
-to various districts and corporations to participate in the election
-of the Catholic clergy. A bishop or a schoolmaster was appointed in the
-same manner that a deputy was elected for the National Assembly, for
-the whole electoral body discharged their duties in the same manner.
-An absurd principle of equality had levelled every thing; the people
-appointed the mayors, the bishops, the parish priests, the deputies,
-and the municipal officers. It was disorder in equality; the levelling
-principle had trampled down society.
-
-Talleyrand was the intimate friend of Mirabeau, or, to speak with
-more precision, the great tribune made a tool of him. They had lived
-together, and together had prepared their works for the Assembly. The
-popular orator had just been attacked by the mortal disease which
-carried him off in so rapid and mysterious a manner, and the Bishop
-of Autun was present when his friend breathed his last. It was not as
-a ghostly comforter affording him the consolations of his ministry,
-it was not as a Catholic bishop pointing to a world beyond the grave
-when those eloquent lips were about to be sealed in death; M. de
-Talleyrand sat by the bedside of the dying man as the depository of
-his last thoughts and of his political labours, which led to the
-destruction of the monarchy. Mirabeau had committed to writing a work
-upon the equal division of inheritance among the different members of
-a family, and on the right of making testamentary dispositions, it
-being the object of the Revolutionists to overturn civil rights as
-they had already destroyed political ones, because it was well known
-they were intimately connected. The Bishop of Autun undertook to read
-the discourse of Mirabeau in the name of his friend at the National
-Assembly, and excited the most lively enthusiasm while repeating the
-last words of the orator whose career was now at an end. The life of
-Mirabeau had been, in some respects, the reaction of a mind filled
-with strong passions against the persecutions he had endured as a son
-from the hand of a severe and inflexible father, and his discourse
-upon limiting the right of making a will and on the equal division of
-inheritance affords the most certain proof of it. The gift of eloquence
-was held in the most enthusiastic estimation by the Constituent
-Assembly, it resolved the greatest part of its business into brilliant
-oratorical theories, resting upon the ideas of demolition, which were
-the offspring of the eighteenth century, and as Talleyrand had some
-difficulty in ascending the tribune, he played but a secondary part
-at that time. He excited attention principally by his management of
-business and by his assiduous attendance on committees; it does not
-appear that he had attained, even at this period, to the reputation of
-taciturn ability enjoyed by the Abbé Siéyès, and I seldom meet with his
-name in important and brilliant discussions.
-
-When the Constituent Assembly had concluded their work, Talleyrand
-quitted France for England. M. de Chauvelin was ambassador there
-from the unfortunate Louis XVI., and the Bishop of Autun received
-a commission, of which the object was to draw the two governments
-of France and England into a nearer resemblance to each other, by
-establishing a system of two legislative chambers exactly upon the
-model of the English houses of parliament. There was already some idea
-of a revolution like that of 1688, and Talleyrand might serve as an
-agent for the attempt, for there was a good understanding between him
-and M. de Chauvelin, and a still better between him and the clubs of
-England. But opinions travelled too fast to allow proper consideration
-being given to the due balance of power, and the sovereignty of the
-people had given rise to the scheme of a single chamber. Diplomatic
-business now went on in a singular manner; instead of the clever and
-prudent system, which since the commencement of the reign of Louis XVI.
-had secured so many advantages to France, so many favourable treaties,
-so many important annexations of territory, the diplomatic corps now
-amused themselves in encouraging the propaganda and spreading every
-where the spirit of Jacobinism. M. de Talleyrand had some interviews
-with the principal leaders of the Whigs, and his intimacy with Earl
-Grey began from this date. Shortly after this, being concerned in the
-intrigues of Danton, he returned to Paris on the 11th of August, and he
-always took pleasure in saying that his not having perished on the 2d
-of September was owing to the efforts of that singularly energetic man,
-as well as his having been able to obtain a passport for England.
-
-As the course of events was progressing towards war, and that the trial
-of Louis XVI. was considered by the Tories as a total subversion of
-every thing, Talleyrand received an order to quit Great Britain in
-virtue of the alien act, and was only allowed twenty-four hours to
-make his arrangements. In the year 1793 people were in the midst of
-revolutionary excitements; he, therefore, did not return to France, but
-embarked for the United States, the country that was then pointed out
-as a model, a pattern government, which the republican party in the
-Legislative Assembly always cited as the most perfect that political
-ideas could conceive, and which M. de la Fayette never ceased to
-extol. At that time two schools prevailed, the American system and
-the revolution of 1688, both of which have been since renewed and
-perpetuated both in men and events.
-
-Talleyrand settled in the United States, and during some years he
-devoted himself to commerce, and engaged in speculations with a
-considerable degree of activity. There always was something adventurous
-and bold in his disposition in money matters; to use a familiar
-expression, no one ever made his fortune oftener than M. de Talleyrand,
-without being particularly scrupulous as to the means he employed.
-His property in France was sequestered, it was, therefore, with very
-limited funds that he commenced his mercantile operations in the United
-States; and it was certainly singular enough to see a bishop of 1789,
-afterwards a popular orator, then a secret diplomatist acting as a spy
-for a party of the National Assembly, finally transforming himself into
-a merchant in a counting-house at Boston or New York. The shades of the
-ancient Bosons of Périgord, those great feudal barons, must have been
-horrified and have indignantly grasped their lances and their coats
-of arms when they contemplated their descendant seated amid bales of
-cotton in a republic of shopkeepers. In this manner do revolutions
-take hold of a man's destiny, play with it, and raise and abase it by
-turns; but the nobility had already accustomed France to still more
-extraordinary courses: had not men of noble birth in Brittany and
-Gascony become freebooters and buccaneers under Henry IV., Louis XIII.,
-and Louis XIV.?
-
-A commercial profession in a country so distant from important
-events did not suit Talleyrand's inclination, and when order was a
-little restored, he lost no time in soliciting permission to return
-to France, the scene of his earliest days. He had left many friends
-there, among the partisans of what was called the moderate republic
-and constitutional system; such were Chenier and Madame de Staël,
-belonging to the literary and philosophical portion of society under
-the Directory, who had regained some degree of importance after the
-Reign of Terror was past, for in calmer times the different shades of a
-party become more evident.
-
-It was particularly to the earnest solicitations of Madame de Staël
-that Talleyrand owed his return, and we know that her influence was
-at that time very great. Chenier undertook the report, and a decree
-was passed revoking the rigorous measures that had been adopted in
-1793 against the late Bishop of Autun; it was also declared that he
-had not emigrated. Talleyrand had at that time entirely left off
-the ecclesiastical habit, and appeared every where as a layman. He
-enjoyed in the world a great reputation for wit and talent; there was
-something noble in his countenance, without its being exactly striking;
-he carried his head remarkably well, and his hair fell in curls upon
-his shoulders. He was no longer a young man, still his reputation for
-gallantry and for agreeableness in society had procured for him a great
-ascendancy over some women of that period, in the midst of that most
-singular society in the time of Barras and the Directory, in which were
-jumbled together men of high rank, contractors, renowned characters,
-and courtesans. Talleyrand had brought with him Madame Grand, with
-whom he had become acquainted at Hamburg, and, by a whimsical
-contrast, it was said no woman ever was possessed of less sense or
-less intelligence. We know how many capital stories were told of her
-in the Fauxbourg St. Germain, of which even the republic was so much
-afraid. The reason is, that the spirit of good society possesses great
-influence at the time that a bad state of society prevails. Jests were
-uttered, and the most charming _naïvetés_ were attributed to Madame
-Talleyrand, of which that regarding _M. Denon and Robinson Crusoe_ is,
-perhaps, the most inimitable.
-
-As soon as he arrived in Paris, Talleyrand joined the Constitutional
-Club, which used to meet at the Hôtel de Salm. Many thinking people
-saw the republic was gradually coming to an end, it had then but
-very little root in France. It was no longer possible to maintain a
-feeble and violent democracy, which gave way to the most fantastic and
-extraordinary paroxysms in the public assembly; people returned to
-the system of the balance of power, and to the English ideas that the
-school of Mounier and Lally-Tollendal had been desirous of rendering
-prevalent in the Constituent Assembly, and that Talleyrand had been
-commissioned to represent in London, in his secret mission, in which,
-as I before observed, there was mingled some idea of a revolution like
-that of 1688.
-
-The institution of an executive directory had been the first step
-towards an oligarchic system, where, in default of an unity of power,
-a centre of action, reduced to five persons, had been established.
-Talleyrand applied all his credit to the support of the Directory, for,
-not being strong enough at that time to resist or to try to overturn
-the government, his only object was to draw some advantage from it.
-He refused steadily to join the royalist party, which, before the
-18th Fructidor, was preparing the downfall of the Directory; still
-less would he belong to the Jacobin faction, for which he felt a
-strong antipathy, on account of its construction and its inclinations;
-accordingly, when the 18th Fructidor burst over France, with the
-proscription of the councils and the press, he was appointed to the
-ministry for foreign affairs; and the _Moniteur_ announced that citizen
-Talleyrand, devoted to the interests of the republic, was about to give
-a powerful impulse to our relations with foreign powers. To accept
-office under a republic was a singular employment for the heir of the
-Bosons of Périgord; but then was not the heir of the Barras, a family
-as old as the rocks of Provence, the chief of the five directors? A
-curious history might be written by following the career of the old
-nobility during the French revolution; they assumed the position that
-men of gentle blood had done in former times during civil disturbances,
-every thing adventurous suited the younger branches of a noble family.
-
-We must now consider what was the state of France with regard to
-foreign affairs. The Directory was at war with Austria, Russia, and
-England; Belgium was ours, we occupied part of Italy, and the rest was
-transformed into little republics, after the model of the executive
-directory; for there was at that time, as during all revolutions, a
-great propaganda mania. Money was the principal instrument of the
-Directory, every thing was accomplished by means of bribery, and people
-made haste to achieve a fortune, that they might afterwards spend it
-in miserable debauchery. When a negotiation was opened with a foreign
-power, the first step was to impose contributions, and to demand secret
-presents; and the minister for foreign affairs was a sort of agent
-commissioned to receive all this _spolia opima_, which afterwards went
-to fatten the friends of Barras and Siéyès, or some women who invaded
-the saloons of the Luxembourg, and presided over their sensual rites.
-It was a time when modesty was banished; the state of society resembled
-the Greek courtesans of the Directory, who, while they almost dispensed
-with clothing, covered even their feet with precious stones. Talleyrand
-began afresh to work at his fortune, but, no doubt, he manœuvred
-with too little discretion, for at the end of some months he was
-openly denounced by Charles de Lacroix, and was obliged to give in his
-resignation, after having published a rather curious pamphlet, which I
-have succeeded in obtaining; it bears the name of "Eclaircissements."
-A pamphlet written by him is a very rare book, for he has written
-very little in the course of his life. This little work contains an
-exposition of the conduct of Citizen Talleyrand, from the time of the
-Constituent Assembly to his appointment to the ministry for foreign
-affairs, and is couched in very moderate language. The ex-minister
-replies to his calumniators with remarkable clearness and simplicity,
-appealing to the testimony afforded by the past, during the whole
-course of his life. This pamphlet excited a vast controversy. Citizen
-Talleyrand was also impeached as an extortioner from the tribune of
-the Five Hundred, even by Lucien Buonaparte, and he was overwhelmed
-under the evidence produced against him, with the view of applying
-the principle of ministerial responsibility to his case. He had great
-difficulty in escaping from this unpleasant situation, in which he had
-been placed by rather too much avidity during his ministry for foreign
-affairs. I must confess, one of the defects of his character was his
-public indifference to all charges brought against him with regard to
-money; it often compromised his reputation, and sometimes placed him in
-a very awkward situation.
-
-Having quarrelled with the Directory, we now find him working with all
-his might for the establishment of the consular government. Buonaparte
-had surrounded himself on his return from Egypt with all the men who
-possessed any political talent or any idea of order in society, and he
-did not disdain the extensive abilities of M. de Talleyrand. The Abbé
-Siéyès had no predilection for the Bishop of Autun; there was an angry
-feeling between them on clerical subjects; but Napoleon required them
-both, he indulged in no feelings of repugnance when the triumph of his
-ambition was at stake; he therefore employed them both, each according
-to his abilities, so as to render them subservient to his designs. The
-influence of Talleyrand over the constitutional party was not devoid
-of utility upon the 18th Brumaire, and when the consular government
-was established, the provisional commission appointed him minister for
-foreign affairs as a recompense for the service he had rendered, and
-Buonaparte confirmed him in his situation as soon as he was proclaimed
-First Consul.
-
-A more extensive field was now open before him; the consular government
-was founded on a principle of unity, there was no longer in their
-relations with foreign powers the unrestrained violence exhibited by
-the National Convention, or the unconnected measures pursued by the
-Directory. It was possible to negotiate with decency and moderation,
-the relations of one state to another were assuming a character
-of regularity they had never possessed under any of the preceding
-governments, and then commenced the great diplomatic arrangements which
-were at last to bless Europe with repose.
-
-The glorious commencement of the consulate was distinguished by
-numerous treaties; at Lunneville peace was concluded with Austria, at
-Amiens a covenant was made with England; other treaties were succeeded
-by peace with Russia and the Porte, and in all these negotiations
-Talleyrand evinced great skill and knowledge of what was proper and
-advisable. He placed the correspondence between governments upon an
-excellent footing, keeping aloof from the extravagant system which the
-agents of the Directory introduced into foreign negotiations during
-the time of the _Carmagnole_ diplomatists, who levied so many forced
-contributions upon the pictures, the gold crucifixes, and the little
-property of the poor in the Mont de Piété.[9]
-
- [9] A pawnbroking establishment in Paris under the protection of the
- government.
-
-These treaties were a great assistance to the fortune of Talleyrand,
-being almost all followed by presents of considerable value, according
-to the custom observed in negotiations between one state and another.
-
-On these occasions the minister did not exhibit sufficient modesty,
-I might say, sufficient discretion, for people had a tolerably good
-idea how much he had gained by each treaty, in money and diamonds. No
-doubt there was some exaggeration in the charges brought against him
-by discontented people, but I repeat it, one great defect of M. de
-Talleyrand was an inclination to play with bribery and corruption, and
-to establish it as a theoretic principle, even in his conversation:
-the stain remains upon his name. He held men in too much contempt, and
-this is a sentiment which society always returns with interest. It was
-now necessary he should lay the foundation of a new fortune; he entered
-boldly into various speculations: while avaricious and economical in
-little things, he gambled in the stocks with a perfect frenzy, and even
-lost considerable sums of money in them. Immediately after the peace
-of Amiens he had speculated upon a rise, and his gain appeared almost
-certain, but it happened by one of those caprices which stock-jobbing
-can alone explain, that the public funds fell more than ten per cent
-after the signing of the treaty, and he lost several millions of francs
-in a single turn of the stocks. These caprices of fortune occurred
-repeatedly in the course of his long life, and explain the necessity he
-was constantly under of repairing his fortune.
-
-The late Bishop of Autun had just been entirely restored to secular
-life by permission of Pope Pius VII. While the negotiation concerning
-the concordat was in progress, the First Consul insisted M. Portalis
-should write to Rome, and request a brief from the pope authorising the
-secularisation of M. de Talleyrand; and the venerable Pius VII., who
-made so many sacrifices to obtain peace for the Church, consented to
-the act, though he rather exceeded his powers by so doing, as according
-to the canon the character of priest is indelible. It is said that
-this brief was not entirely explicit, the pontiff did not establish
-a principle permitting the marriage of priests; he merely, in virtue
-of his discretionary power, granted an act of indulgence and personal
-pardon to M. de Talleyrand for a deed he had already committed.
-
-The ex-bishop had hardly laid down his crosier before he was
-compelled to submit to the imperious requisitions of the First
-Consul. Buonaparte, who piqued himself upon his strict morality,
-insisted he should enter the state of matrimony--a most grievous yoke
-to impose upon a man of wit and good taste, for, with his habitual
-tact, Talleyrand had been well aware of the amusement afforded to the
-Fauxbourg St. Germain by the silliness and ignorance of Madame Grand,
-and when she should be legally invested with the title of Citizeness
-Talleyrand, how she would expose herself to the sarcasms and the
-ridicule of the aristocracy! But there was no help for it, for the
-First Consul had decided it should be so. The marriage was accordingly
-celebrated at the municipality and in the church, and as people
-expressed it, _the Bishop of Autun took to himself a wife_.
-
-The ministry of the First Consul now comprehended two men of great
-importance, Talleyrand and Fouché. The one represented at the court
-of Buonaparte the ancient aristocracy restored--he was essentially
-the man of diplomatic forms and traditions; Fouché, on the contrary,
-was the representative of Jacobinism and the revolutionary principle,
-which the First Consul considered as an internal malady fatal to his
-power. A deeply-rooted and continual competition could not fail to
-arise between two characters who had been led to accept office by
-such different ideas, and who met in the presence of Napoleon as the
-expression of such different systems. Both were men of incontestable
-ability, and were constantly informing against each other, or, at
-least, keeping a careful watch over the proceedings of their rival
-colleague; in addition to which, Fouché was very anxious to obtain the
-direction of Foreign affairs. Buonaparte was perfectly aware of the
-hatred that existed between them, but he was too wise to sacrifice one
-of the ministers to the other; each served as a check upon his rival,
-and he listened to the information they gave him, quite certain that
-neither would allow the treacherous dealings of the other to escape.
-It was in this manner Fouché delivered to Buonaparte the minutes of
-the secret treaty with Paul I., which Talleyrand had communicated to
-the court of London through the medium of one of his agents. The agent
-was sacrificed, but Buonaparte did not venture to touch his principal,
-because there was some danger in making known the treachery. Talleyrand
-afterwards employed the same agent in several subordinate negotiations;
-indeed, it is well known that he rather preferred people who were not
-much incommoded by scruples of conscience, men of whom he could boldly
-disclaim all knowledge if necessary, and who were content he should do
-so.
-
-We now come to the lamentable affair of the Duc d'Enghien; and there
-is not the slightest doubt that Talleyrand was as well acquainted as
-General Savary with Buonaparte's determination to seize the prince.
-He denied it in vain, for positive proofs exist of the truth of our
-assertion; amongst others, his letter to the Baron of Edelsheim,
-minister of Baden, which has been preserved in an entire state. The
-following is an extract from it: "The First Consul has considered
-it necessary to order two detachments to proceed to Offemburg and
-to Ettenheim, to secure the authors of so odious a crime, which is
-sufficient to deprive the persons who have been concerned in it of the
-benefit of the law of nations."
-
-After the arrest of the unfortunate prince, Talleyrand was acquainted
-with all the proceedings of this horrible affair, and he was present
-at the privy council where his condemnation was determined upon, or,
-at least, discussed. I dare not believe the cold and laconic reply
-attributed to him in the drawing-room of his old friend, the Duchess
-of ***, the very evening the Duc d'Enghien was tried at Vincennes.
-This reply was not only an atrocious expression, but it also involved
-a degree of imprudence which did not make part of his character. It is
-bad enough to have been concerned even indirectly in so fearful a crime.
-
-In the midst of the active negotiations in which Talleyrand felt
-obliged to appear and to take a part, was there a political system
-formed in his mind, or merely a general principle? He still retained
-a strong bias towards English ideas, and a wish for an alliance with
-that country. This system, on which his earliest diplomatic plans
-were based, was constantly in his mind; he had not forgotten his
-residence in England at the beginning of the French revolution under
-M. de Chauvelin; he was also intimately connected with the Whig party,
-and considered Great Britain as the political ally of France against
-Russia, which last appeared to him, of all the powers in Europe, the
-most dangerous, as far as the civilisation of the world was concerned.
-He had not observed that by her situation Russia is our easiest, our
-most natural, and our most disinterested ally, for France and Russia do
-not clash either in a political or commercial point of view. But there
-are some early impressions which never wear out, and Talleyrand had
-passed some of the best years of his life in England, and on terms of
-friendship with Lord Grey, Lord Russell, Fox, and Sheridan.
-
-He received the title of Grand Chamberlain at the accession of
-Napoleon to the throne, for which event his diplomatic correspondence
-had already prepared Europe, and he had also entered into a solemn
-justification of it to all the different cabinets. Napoleon liked to
-be surrounded by people of illustrious birth, and it appeared useful
-to the brilliancy of his crown to have a Boson de Périgord among the
-officers of his palace; it was in accordance with his passion for
-aristocratical honours, and his wish to restore the old state of
-society. M. de Talleyrand played a great part in the first negotiations
-with Germany, before and after the peace of Presburg, that peace
-which effected such a radical change in the political and territorial
-situation of the German nation. It was he who, with the assistance of
-M. Reinhard, contrived to bring about the Confederation of the Rhine,
-which made an end of the predominancy in Germany of the ancient house
-of Austria. After these negotiations were concluded, he received the
-title of Prince of Benevento, with a real feudal authority under
-the protectorate of France, which afforded him a revenue of 150,000
-livres per annum, and made with his salary as minister for foreign
-affairs about 500,000 francs.[10] The peace of Presburg was certainly
-a most brilliant epoch in his ministry. As the representative of the
-magnificent military government whose grandeur overshadowed the earth,
-he assumed a certain degree of majesty in his manners and habits. The
-Prince of Benevento held a _cour plénière_ for the German electors, who
-came to request from him a fief, or a portion of his supreme power. At
-the summit of his greatness, Talleyrand's mind still turned to the
-English alliance, and when Fox succeeded Pitt at the head of affairs,
-he again conceived the project of opening negotiations with a view to
-peace; he was firmly convinced that no general peace could be concluded
-in Europe without the concurrence of England, and he was desirous a
-vast system of compensation should be arranged, which might incline
-her towards pacific measures, for no treaty can be durable that is not
-based upon equity. But these projects were interrupted by one of the
-most serious circumstances that occurred in the whole course of his
-life.
-
- [10] About 20,000_l._
-
-It has been said that Talleyrand retired from office because he did not
-agree in the opinions of Napoleon regarding the war in Spain. I have
-deeply studied the question, and I believe this report to be utterly
-untrue. There is but a slight approximation of dates between his
-resignation and the treachery of Bayonne; it is this approximation that
-has been laid hold of to gild the disgrace of the minister. Talleyrand
-was, in fact, replaced by M. de Champagny a little before the Spanish
-war, but he took part with the cabinet in all the intrigues which
-led to the events of Aranjuez. The reunion of the Peninsula in one
-political system with France agreed well with his historical ideas upon
-the family compact, and several letters are still in existence from
-the Prince of Benevento which confirm his participation in all these
-events, as well as a curious report to the Emperor, demonstrating the
-advantages that would accrue from reuniting both crowns in his family,
-in imitation of the grand political scheme of Louis XIV.
-
-The real cause of Talleyrand's disgrace was the active attempts he made
-to negotiate peace with England independent of Napoleon. The Emperor
-did not at all like men who acted upon their own opinion; he liked
-every thing to originate with himself alone. He got rid of Talleyrand
-as, in succeeding years, he shook off Fouché, minister of police.
-
-There are times when men of consideration are a source of
-embarrassment, when advisers are no longer required: devoted servants
-alone are necessary. The Prince of Benevento took advantage of the
-circumstance, and as the Spanish war was very unpopular, he assumed
-the attitude of a martyr to his love for peace and moderate measures.
-He was always clever enough to account for his being out of favour
-by attributing it to some motive which might secure him a good place
-in public opinion, and he then profited by his situation to wage an
-underhand, but murderous war, against the power which had rejected
-him from its circle of activity. When he was no longer at the head of
-affairs for the purpose of directing them, he took care to bring up the
-rear, for the sake of causing hinderance and annoyance. Nevertheless,
-his dismissal was now covered with a golden mantle; he received the
-title of vice-grand elector, with the same salary of 500,000 francs,
-that he enjoyed during his ministry. The activity of his mind led him
-afresh into commercial pursuits, he gambled in the stocks, became
-a partner in a banking-house at Hamburg and in Paris, he invested
-considerable sums of money in the English funds, and awaited patiently
-the course of events. To know how to wait is a great mark of political
-knowledge, and it was one of Talleyrand's favourite axioms, that
-patience often leads to favourable situations: he never would be in a
-hurry.
-
-A secret opposition was beginning to form against Napoleon, even in the
-highest ranks, among the heads of the senate, of the government, and of
-the army. Fearful of yet making itself manifest by any overt act, it
-only ventured upon apparently trifling remarks and half confidences;
-but people conspired in their _minds_, expressions were used, which
-were repeated as apophthegms and prophecies of society. "It is the
-beginning of the end," said Talleyrand, at the time of the disastrous
-expedition to Moscow; and this just appreciation had been warmly
-applauded. What a terrible opposition is that of the _salons_ and the
-gay world! It kills with a lingering death, it upsets the strongest
-ideas, it destroys the best-laid plans; it would be far better to be
-compelled to engage in a pitched battle face to face. This opposition
-was gradually increasing, and the police establishment of General
-Savary, which tended more to the employment of brute force than the
-adoption of intelligent precautions, was incapable of restraining
-it; it was gradually appearing on every side, besides which the men
-who placed themselves at the head of the resisting party were of too
-much consequence for the Emperor to venture to touch them. Talleyrand
-and Fouché now did whatever they pleased with perfect impunity--they
-were acting against the Emperor, and he did not dare to shew his
-displeasure. It has always been supposed that Napoleon when at the
-summit of his greatness might have put down any one; yet, great as he
-was, there were some men too powerful for him. The day that he had
-touched Talleyrand or Fouché, all the officers of government would have
-considered themselves at the mercy of a caprice; Cambacérès, Lebrun,
-Regnault de Saint-Jean d'Angely, feeling themselves henceforth without
-any security against a master whom they detested, would, perhaps, have
-shaken off the yoke.
-
-As early as the beginning of the year 1813, Talleyrand had opened a
-communication with the Bourbons. The venerable Cardinal de Périgord,
-grand almoner to Louis XVIII., was his uncle, but there was a
-considerable degree of coolness between them; still it may be easily
-imagined that it facilitated an exchange of hopes and promises,
-against the chances of a future restoration to the throne; but all
-this was done secretly and in strict confidence, as the idea of the
-restoration was not yet sufficiently matured. Talleyrand had never
-ceased to maintain a communication through his agents with Louis
-XVIII., who was himself at that time engaged in a confidential
-correspondence with all the great officers of the state, even
-including Cambacérès himself. Paris was filled with these letters,
-notwithstanding which, Talleyrand was one of the council appointed
-to assist the regency of Maria Louisa, whom the Emperor had placed
-at the head of affairs. He always exhibited the greatest interest in
-all questions relating to the government, he attended assiduously the
-meetings of the council, and appeared the most zealous of the Emperor's
-servants: the plan of the regency also was congenial to his mind, and
-he would have been satisfied with it as a political idea. He still,
-however, carried on an underhand correspondence with Louis XVIII., who,
-with his perfect knowledge of mankind, engaged to maintain him in his
-magnificent position, to which he added a promise that he should be
-placed at the head of the ministry. As to the regency of Maria Louisa,
-it involved a project for a closer alliance with Austria, and was
-suggested by the most able men in the council of Napoleon, who were
-desirous of exciting dissensions among the allied powers by giving rise
-to divers interests.
-
-The misfortunes of war had now brought the enemy near the capital;
-and, as the powers of Napoleon became more feeble, people learned to
-estimate probabilities with a greater degree of certainty: first the
-regency, then a provisional government, and, finally, the restoration
-of the Bourbons. Since the year 1812, all illusion concerning the
-invincible power of Napoleon was over. The burning of Moscow, the
-snows which had covered the grand army as with a vast shroud, the
-conspiracy of Mallet, all had tended to place the imperial power in a
-tottering condition. The negotiations of Talleyrand began to assume
-an indescribable boldness; the plenipotentiaries of the allied powers
-had fixed a congress at Châtillon, more for the sake of appearances
-than to discuss really diplomatic questions; and M. de Coulaincourt,
-whose devotion to the Emperor was undoubted, was to propose a treaty
-determining the limits of France under the government of Napoleon,
-or the regency of the archduchess. This was the moment selected by
-Talleyrand to despatch a secret agent to the head-quarters of the
-Emperor Alexander. This agent, who was, I believe, M. de Vitrolles, was
-commissioned to describe the condition of the metropolis, the anxiety
-there was to get rid of Napoleon, and, above all, the imperative
-necessity there appeared to be for the restoration of the old
-dynasty, as the only certain step that could be taken under existing
-circumstances. M. de Vitrolles evinced great zeal and ability in the
-discharge of this secret mission, which exposed him to extreme danger;
-he succeeded in conveying to the Emperor Alexander some letters written
-in cipher, and a very detailed memorial upon the state of the public
-mind; but--must I confess it?--the allies, who cared but little about
-the Bourbons, did not perfectly understand the scope of this movement,
-neither did they know what might be the result. It was then Talleyrand
-exerted himself to demonstrate that these two ideas, the ancient
-territory and the ancient dynasty, were correlative; and the same
-system had been forcibly represented at Châtillon by Lord Castlereagh.
-
-The disaffected party continued to gain strength in Paris. Talleyrand
-had made friends with several of the senators who still retained some
-recollections of the Republic, and professed an especial hatred
-towards Napoleon; such were M. de Lambrechts, Languinais, and Grégoire,
-and the Prince of Benevento could rely upon their assistance in any
-rising that might be organised against the empire. At the same time he
-had collected around himself the Duc de Dalberg, the Abbé de Pradt,
-and a multitude of Royalist agents, who were in communication with MM.
-de Noailles, de Fitzjames, and de Montmorency, all engaged in secret
-machinations for the Bourbons. The time was come when the Empire must
-terminate--there was so much disaffection among the citizens of Paris
-and in the provinces. Great precaution was shewn in taking the first
-steps in favour of the Bourbon restoration, and the greatest secrecy
-was observed; as soon, therefore, as it was decided, according to
-the instructions of Napoleon, that the Empress should leave Paris,
-and establish her regency at Blois, Talleyrand hastened to declare
-his intention of shewing his zeal by following the regency, it being
-necessary he should offer a pledge to the imperialist party in order
-to prevent suspicion, but by a piece of duplicity, perfectly in
-keeping with his character and position, he apprised the allies of his
-pretended flight. Accordingly, Prince Schwartzenberg posted a small
-body of cavalry at the first stage on the road to Blois, which stopped
-the carriage of Prince Talleyrand, and obliged him to return to Paris,
-where the wily diplomatist also declared himself compelled by force to
-remain. By this means he was enabled to place himself as the head and
-the nucleus of the general rising against the Emperor; his saloon was
-open to all the disaffected, and he encouraged the idea of Napoleon's
-downfall in a manner which charmed the hearts of the Republicans; for
-Buonaparte's violation of the constitution was the only circumstance
-that appeared to occur to their minds. The ground was well chosen, and
-Talleyrand worked at his ease and on an extended scale at the ruin of
-his master; every thing had tended towards it since the year 1812, and
-the moral strength of the Empire was gone.
-
-Talleyrand's grand intrigue even began in the senate. He well knew
-the simplicity and the instinctive repugnance felt by Grégoire,
-Lambrechts, and Languinais, for Napoleon, and he determined they should
-serve as a pivot for the new order of things. Some of them thought
-they were making preparations for a regency. Talleyrand promised them
-constitutional forms and the sovereignty of the people, those old
-visions of the Republic, and they welcomed all these recollections with
-ecstasy: there was not much difficulty, certainly, in inducing these
-second-rate minds to act in concert with him. The patriot party were
-the first to demand that the Emperor should be deposed; they enumerated
-all the grievances, upon which they had observed so prudent a silence
-in the days of his prosperity; they fell upon Napoleon, his forfeiture
-of the crown was pronounced by the senate in the month of April 1814,
-and he was thus sacrificed by the party which had obeyed his will
-with apparent alacrity during the ten years of the Empire. Nothing
-is so violent or so rancorous in its hatred as an assembly which has
-long been humbled under a despotic rule: it afterwards takes signal
-vengeance upon the fallen power.
-
-When the Emperor Alexander entered Paris, Talleyrand's ascendancy
-over his mind was sufficient to induce him to inhabit the Hôtel de la
-Rue Saint-Florentin, an unheard-of honour, which gave an undeniable
-proof of the great estimation in which he was held! The czar occupied
-the apartments, still to be seen, with the long stone balcony at
-the extremity of the Rue de Rivoli. It was in the blue drawing-room
-in this hôtel that the plan of the Restoration was organised,
-according to the ideas and principles which I have depicted in a work
-especially devoted to that purpose.[11] Talleyrand's influence over
-the proceedings of that time was unbounded; he induced the Emperor
-Alexander to reject all proposals for continuing the regency of Maria
-Louisa, as well as the loyal endeavours of Marshal Macdonald. He
-instigated all these refusals, and had adopted a maxim admirable for
-its clearness and precision, which he took pleasure in repeating as a
-means of putting a stop to all negotiations. "The restoration of the
-Bourbons," said he, "is a principle; every thing else is an intrigue."
-In after years, he forgot none of the services he had rendered to
-the old dynasty, and, when out of favour under the Restoration,
-he took pleasure in shewing this blue drawing-room which had been
-inhabited by the Emperor Alexander, and would repeat in a tone of
-affected bitterness and ridicule, as if to brand the ingratitude of
-the Bourbons, "Nevertheless, gentlemen, it was here the Restoration
-was accomplished." And then he would describe in his admirable manner
-the proceedings of that time, and point out the spot occupied by each
-of the party in the month of May 1814. "At the corner of the table,"
-he would say, "sat the Emperor Alexander, there the King of Prussia,
-and here the Grand Duke Constantine; a little farther off were Pozzo
-di Borgo, Nesselrode, and Hardenberg--yes, gentlemen, it was here, in
-this little room, that we restored the throne of the Bourbons, and
-the monarchy of 1400 years." And this he would repeat with a sardonic
-smile which marked his dissatisfaction, and perhaps was an index of
-some future design of overturning what he had so easily raised. When a
-monarchy has been restored within the narrow limits of a drawing-room,
-it cannot be supposed to inspire very great confidence. Such was the
-secret thought of this great contriver of events.
-
- [11] Histoire de la Restauration.
-
-Up to the arrival of Louis XVIII. Talleyrand was at the head of the
-provisional government; all the responsibility rested with him, and
-he had cause to reproach himself with many evil actions which were
-connected with the spirit of that period, for there are seasons when
-the human mind does not belong to itself; it is hurried on by the
-rapid course of ideas, it is imbued with a spirit of reaction. Has
-the mission of M. de Maubreuil ever been perfectly explained? What
-was its object? Some people will tell you he received no orders,
-except to prevent the crown diamonds from being carried away; but
-other accounts tell a very different story, and assert that he was
-intrusted to perform a deed of blood, similar perhaps to that which had
-destroyed the last of the Condés. I can positively declare that M. de
-Maubreuil never had any direct conversation or personal interview with
-Talleyrand. He took care never to appear in deplorable circumstances of
-this kind; and all that passed was as follows: One of the confidential
-secretaries of the minister said to M. de Maubreuil, in perfectly
-plain language, "This is what the prince requires of you; here is your
-warrant and a sum of money, and as a proof of what I say, and of his
-assent, remain in the _salon_ to-day, and he will pass through and
-bend his head in token of approbation." The sign was made, and M. de
-Maubreuil considered himself perfectly authorised to undertake the
-mission. What, I repeat, was its object? The time is hardly yet arrived
-which makes it allowable to tell and to publish every thing; I judge no
-man's conduct, I only repeat that there are times when people do not
-appear to belong to themselves.
-
-On his arrival in Paris, Louis XVIII. appointed Talleyrand
-prime-minister with the direction of foreign affairs; thus leaving
-him the supreme charge of all diplomatic negotiations, as a mark of
-gratitude and a pledge of general peace. A treaty was signed, France
-returned to her ancient territory and her ancient dynasty, as it had
-been decided after the events of Paris; all diplomatic questions of
-general interest were afterwards to be settled in the congress of
-the allied powers, fixed to take place at Vienna, where Talleyrand
-was appointed ambassador extraordinary to represent the King of
-France,--a mission he was certainly fully entitled to expect. In the
-month of November all the French legation arrived at Vienna, and
-the ambassador displayed great activity. It was necessary to place
-France in a favourable position, which was very difficult after all
-the wars and the disasters she had had to encounter; and we must do
-justice to the great abilities and exertions of Prince Talleyrand,
-for, in spite of the state of humiliation to which she was reduced, he
-succeeded in establishing her in the first rank; it was also owing to
-his intervention that the younger branch of the Bourbons was restored
-at Naples. Louis XVIII. was the means of saving Saxony from imminent
-danger, and finally, towards the close of the congress, Talleyrand
-entered into an intimate league with Metternich and Lord Castlereagh
-to prevent the encroachments of Russia in Poland, and concluded in the
-month of February[12] 1815 a secret treaty with England and Austria,
-where the possibility of war was looked forward to, and the necessary
-arrangements made for such a contingency. I have given the curious
-original elsewhere.[13]
-
- [12] Signed in the month of March, _vide_ Metternich.--_Tr._
-
- [13] Histoire de la Restauration.
-
-During the whole time of the Congress of Vienna, the desire for an
-alliance with England and a feeling of antipathy for Russia never
-ceased to possess the mind of Prince Talleyrand; he followed up this
-system of regard and hatred with the utmost tenacity; he even went so
-far as to write, in his secret correspondence with Louis XVIII., "that
-a Russian princess did not come of a sufficiently good family for the
-Duc de Berri, and that it ought not to be thought of, as the house of
-Romanof could not place itself on a level with that of Bourbon." This
-circumstance was never forgotten by the Emperor Alexander, who from
-this time forward entertained an extreme dislike for Talleyrand, and
-his aversion became still more violent after the events of 1815, when
-the secret treaty concluded in the month of March came to his knowledge.
-
-Napoleon landed in the Gulf of Juan, and his rapid march upon Paris
-excited the greatest alarm in the Congress of Vienna. The activity
-of the French ambassador redoubled its vehemence, for Napoleon had
-outlawed him in his decrees dated from Lyons, and he in his turn
-revenged himself by causing Buonaparte to be placed at the ban of the
-empire. He took great pains to obtain this result, the declaration
-of the Congress of Vienna was his work, and it was he that induced
-Lord Castlereagh and Metternich to sign it. From this moment the
-coalition was in motion, and France was again threatened with an
-irruption of myriads of armed men, when the battle of Waterloo a second
-time terminated the sway of Napoleon. When a power is at an end,
-all attempts to restore it are in vain, it is merely the flash that
-precedes the extinction of an expiring light.
-
-Talleyrand returned to Paris with the Bourbons, but his authority
-was no longer what it had been. Louis XVIII. had discovered that his
-plenipotentiary, and the Duc de Dalberg, in his name, had received
-overtures concerning the possibility of the younger branch of the
-Bourbons succeeding to the throne of France, and it was not likely he
-should forget it. The king, with his habitual sagacity and experience,
-would never have chosen for his minister the man who had been
-plenipotentiary at Vienna; but the influence of the Duke of Wellington,
-which placed Fouché at the head of the police, also restored to
-Talleyrand the direction of foreign affairs. The cabinet of July 1815
-was entirely favourable to English ideas and interests.
-
-As long as Talleyrand had only to treat with Lord Castlereagh and
-the Prussians, he preserved his ascendancy; but how hard were the
-conditions imposed by those powers! The Duke of Wellington had a
-regard for him as the old representative of the English alliance, and
-supported him with all his influence, which was very great; however,
-in the month of August 1815, the face of every thing was changed; the
-Russians joined with 350,000 bayonets; the Emperor Alexander took
-a part in the negotiation, and as Russia alone was kindly disposed
-towards the house of Bourbon, as she alone defended the integrity of
-our territory, and did not exact the sacrifices required by England and
-Prussia, she soon became the predominant power. The first condition
-imposed by the Emperor Alexander, before he would enter into any
-negotiation, was the dismissal of Prince Talleyrand. He has since
-pretended that he voluntarily retired from office to avoid signing the
-Convention of Paris, that hard necessity to which France was compelled
-to submit through the heavy calamities which had fallen upon her, but
-this fact is as untrue as his opposition to the Spanish war in 1808.
-He has on every occasion striven to invest his dismissal with a degree
-of interest, but in this instance he had unavailingly had recourse to
-all his influence with the Duke of Wellington and Prussia to obtain the
-direction of a treaty, and he only retired because it was impossible
-for him to carry on a negotiation. He had submitted to every thing, he
-had made a thousand concessions to the czar, even going so far as to
-recommend Count Pozzo di Borgo as Minister for the Interior; it was all
-in vain, Alexander never would consent to see or to treat with him. Had
-Russia withdrawn her influence we should have lost Lorraine and Alsace,
-which had been claimed by the Germanic Confederation, but when the czar
-took the negotiations in hand, he stipulated for better conditions than
-those proposed by Prussia and England. Louis XVIII. took pleasure in
-relating the scene, at the close of which he asked for or accepted the
-resignation of the Bishop of Autun, and he described it with all the
-malicious wit he possessed in so admirable a degree. The king was quite
-delighted, for he did not at all enjoy the imperative and arbitrary
-style of proceeding adopted by his minister, who was more apt to
-request he would affix his signature to the papers he laid before him
-than inclined to consult him upon any political business; and besides,
-though the king was a little of a free-thinker, he could not quite
-forgive the utter disregard of the laws of the Church evinced by a
-married priest. This feeling was so strong at court, that the Cardinal
-de Périgord, grand almoner of France, never would recognise any dignity
-but that of bishop as belonging to his nephew. The Royalist party, now
-very powerful, lost no opportunity of turning him into ridicule, and
-clever caricatures always represented him with the crosier in his hand.
-They wanted to get rid of him as they had already contrived to do of
-Fouché, the former regicide orator. One day at a party in the Faubourg
-Saint-Germain Talleyrand said in a loud voice to some Royalists,
-"But, gentlemen, you want to bring back the old order of things,
-and that is not possible." The caustic and clever M. de Sallaberry
-replied, "Why, monseigneur, who would think of making you Bishop of
-Autun again? It would be an absurdity." The shaft was well aimed, and
-it _struck home_. In spite, however, of personal feelings, the king
-gave him the appointment of Grand Chamberlain of France, with a salary
-of 100,000 francs, at the suggestion of the Duc de Richelieu, who had
-declared in the royal council that, after all the services rendered
-by M. de Talleyrand, the Bourbons ought to present him with a noble
-mark of their gratitude. One would think that Louis himself, must have
-remembered that he owed the defence of his dynasty to him, at a time
-when the Restoration was regarded with coolness by all the cabinets of
-Europe.
-
-Talleyrand continued to hold the situation of grand-chamberlain during
-the reign of the restored family. He was not a favourite at the
-Tuileries, where he went every day through etiquette to fulfil his
-office, standing behind the king's chair with admirable punctuality;
-and he was received with great coolness by Louis XVIII. Charles X.
-was more kindly disposed towards every body, and occasionally entered
-politely into conversation with him on some trifling subject. He also
-performed his duties at the _diners d'apparat_. The king was seated
-at table, the grand-chamberlain occupying a small chair at a little
-distance, and while Louis was discussing a pheasant, or other game,
-with an excellent appetite, Talleyrand dipped a biscuit in old madeira
-wine. It was a scene of considerable interest, and used to pass in the
-most profound silence. Every now and then the king would look fixedly
-at the grand-chamberlain with a sneering expression of countenance,
-while the latter, with his impassibility so coarsely defined by
-Marshal Lannes, would go on soaking his biscuit and slowly sipping
-his madeira with a look of respectful deference towards the king his
-master. Not a word was addressed by the sovereign to the chamberlain
-during the short repast, after which Talleyrand used to resume his
-place behind the king's chair in a cold, ceremonious manner, that
-reminded one of the statue in the _Festin de Pierre_, only with this
-difference, that the grand-chamberlain's mind was filled with the most
-inveterate hatred, a feeling which he extended to all the members of
-the royal family.
-
-In the Chamber of Peers he adopted a system of opposition, which
-assumed a greater degree of solemnity, from all the statesmen of the
-various epochs who had been engaged in the management of affairs and
-vast negotiations being included in it. He very rarely spoke; indeed,
-I believe only two speeches delivered by him are on record. The first
-was on the occasion of the war in Spain in 1823, when he entered
-rather awkwardly into the question and foretold a disastrous event to
-our arms, whereas they were in reality crowned with success, shewing
-how great a mistake it is ever to give utterance to predictions in
-politics. The second time was on the occasion of the law of election
-and the liberty of the press; he then reminded the assembly of the
-promises entered into at Saint-Ouen, at which he had himself been
-present. He appeared at this time to be held in little estimation in
-the upper house, and there were not above five or six peers whose votes
-were at his disposal. The case was very different in his drawing-room
-and at his toilet, where he was in the habit of receiving a great deal
-of company and listened to confidential communications from men of all
-parties, flattering in turn the liberal societies and the aristocratic
-coteries; for the latter, especially, he entertained a strong
-predilection. His fortune was now very much involved in consequence
-of an immense bankruptcy, by which his friend the Duc de Dalberg alone
-lost the sum of 4,000,000[14] francs, and he passed but little part of
-his time at Paris, but lived at Valençay, or at his great estates in
-Touraine; these were deeply mortgaged, and without the management of
-the Duchess of Dino, who was a woman of wonderful ability in business,
-he would, probably, have been obliged to part with some of them. He
-occasionally made an excursion to a greater distance, and once passed a
-whole season in the south of France, in a pleasant habitation selected
-for him at Hyères, in the country of fragrant flowers, of vanilla,
-and orange, and citron groves. His wit and noble manners are still
-recollected with delight in that part of the country; and, indeed,
-it is impossible to express the charm he infused into the evening
-conversations at his house.
-
- [14] About 160,000_l._
-
-His social existence was, in fact, passed entirely during the night.
-He rose late, and it was near eleven o'clock before he rang for his
-_valet de chambre_, who brought him his morning gown. He was obliged to
-lean upon his stick as he walked from one chair to another, until he
-reached the fireplace; and he breakfasted after the English fashion,
-making a very trifling repast. Then followed his toilet, which
-occupied a long time, and was almost public, according to the fashion
-of former times, when dressing the hair was a perfect operation. His
-servant put on his cravat, still worn with all the pretension of an
-exquisite of the Directory, and he then went out for an airing. After
-dinner, and to conclude the evening, he generally joined some of his
-old intimate friends, and played a rubber, very late and always very
-high. He sometimes dozed a little in an easy chair, for he possessed
-an admirable faculty for closing his eyes, and, perhaps, of indulging
-in a waking sleep. His conversation was generally brilliant and
-clever, sometimes very communicative, and he took great pleasure in
-talking over the events of his life, dwelling with especial delight
-upon the Congress of Vienna, which had been such a brilliant period
-for his diplomatic talents. Thus passed his life, full of a feeling
-of discontent and a constant looking forward to change; nothing was
-hurried, but he was constantly in a state of expectation, or carrying
-on one of those vast conspiracies which no one can lay hold of.
-
-At the time of the breaking out of the revolution of July, Talleyrand
-was deeply irritated against the elder branch of the Bourbons, whom
-he termed ungrateful and forgetful of his services; and there is no
-doubt of his having worked industriously towards establishing a new
-monarchical system. He had a horror of anarchy, power was his element.
-The time is not yet come when we may venture to tell every thing, but
-it is an undoubted fact, that Talleyrand was consulted and examined
-on the 9th of August, and his answer was altogether favourable to the
-new project. Did not this revolution carry him back in recollection to
-the period of the Congress of Vienna in 1814, when an arrangement of
-this kind had been suggested by him as a possible event and a means
-of solving a difficulty should such occur? Some secret conferences
-were held on this delicate subject; Talleyrand took upon himself
-the negotiation with the _corps diplomatique_, and also the duty of
-setting clearly before them that the peace of Europe depended upon the
-establishment of a monarchy in France,--a vast undertaking, to which
-a prince of very superior abilities was willing to devote himself.
-Talleyrand succeeded in the object he had in view; the despatches of
-the ambassadors were all in favour of royalty, it was considered as
-a guarantee of the principle of order in Europe, as an efficacious
-means of repressing the revolutionary spirit, and maintaining the
-treaties already concluded--in short, as the strongest opposition
-to the Propaganda tendency, and the most serious scheme of general
-conservatism.
-
-Talleyrand at this time refused the ministry for foreign affairs, as
-it would merely have added to his responsibility without increasing
-his power of action; but he accepted the embassy to London, which was
-a much more important office, as affairs of the greatest consequence
-would necessarily come under consideration there, it being upon
-the prompt decision of this cabinet that must mainly depend the
-consolidation of the new order of things; for, although England had
-been the first to recognise the events that had taken place, she had
-shewn some disposition to reserve regarding an alliance with the new
-government. The affairs of Belgium occasioned so much difficulty in
-the negotiations, and added so greatly to the danger of the political
-crisis, that it was necessary a person possessed both of talent
-and great consideration should be deputed to London, to secure the
-support of the English cabinet in the negotiations that had been
-begun, especially as the despatches received from Russia rendered the
-necessity for a good understanding with England particularly urgent.
-
-When Talleyrand arrived in London, the Duke of Wellington was still
-in the ministry, and the violent Tories had the direction of the
-cabinet,--a state of affairs which prevented his carrying on his
-manœuvres as he wished; he was perfectly aware of the attachment of
-the Tories to the secret treaties concluded in 1815, and, therefore,
-used all his efforts to overturn the Duke of Wellington. He also
-renewed his old intimacy with Lord Grey, he sought the society of Lord
-John Russell, and lived in a most magnificent style.
-
-The revolution of July had produced an effect in England; the march of
-opinion became too powerful for the Tories, and Lord Grey was placed at
-the head of the cabinet, affording a complete triumph to the moderate
-Whigs. The course being now clear, Talleyrand could assume the position
-he wished: and hard had he laboured to prepare it! He now was able to
-work openly for a treaty with France.
-
-It ought to be known that, during the embassy of Prince Polignac, a
-conference had been arranged in London between the plenipotentiaries
-of Russia, England, and France, to decide upon all the questions
-relating to Greece; and the same course had been pursued afterwards,
-under the Duc de Laval. England attached great importance to it, and
-Talleyrand proposed its renewal, for the purpose of watching and
-deciding upon the general affairs of Europe, and also advised that
-the plenipotentiaries of Austria and Prussia should be admitted. They
-were to take the Belgic question into consideration, and decide what
-course should be pursued, in consequence of the dismemberment of the
-kingdom of the Low Countries, established in 1815; and Talleyrand being
-personally acquainted with all these plenipotentiaries, his position
-soon became as brilliant in London as it had been at Vienna in 1815. He
-was connected with Prince and Princess Lieven by the ties of old and
-intimate friendship, and the families of Talleyrand and Esterhazy had
-also long been well acquainted: Baron Bulow, the Prussian minister, was
-one of the second-rate diplomatists, who all entertained the greatest
-respect for Talleyrand and his long experience in public affairs.
-
-Conferences were, therefore, undertaken upon very indefinite subjects,
-for their principal object was to seek the opportunity of meeting and
-maintaining peace. No doubt there was something very undecided in the
-numerous protocols signed at that time upon the affairs of Belgium, and
-the greater part of them were never put in force. In addition to this,
-though they had been the result of a common agreement, the Russian and
-Austrian plenipotentiaries never received the formal assent of their
-governments: the conduct of Prince Lieven and Prince Esterhazy was, in
-the first instance, disclaimed on the part of their courts, and they
-were shortly afterwards recalled; but the result of these conferences
-in London, the happy consequences of their developement, was the
-maintenance of peace, whose existence had at one time been greatly
-threatened. In 1831, when the foreign ministers met in such close
-communication with each other, it was almost impossible explanations
-should not take place, and that there should be any misapprehension
-between the governments; the proceedings of Talleyrand were, therefore,
-successful; for his main object was the preservation of the European
-_status quo_, by preventing those conflicts among the cabinets, those
-clashings among people, which fill history with tales of bloodshed; and
-the conferences in London were of service, because the close contact
-into which men were brought with each other was a means of reconciling
-affairs.
-
-According to his general custom, the French ambassador received a
-great deal of company; his entertainments were splendid; his evening
-parties, in particular, were remarkable for the good taste and
-distinguished company so much prized in England. I should not exceed
-the truth if I were to say that his wishes influenced certain votes in
-the House of Commons. No ambassador had ever before enjoyed so much
-consideration. But Lord Grey was aware of an approaching storm: the
-difficulty of his political situation had not consisted in overturning
-the Tory ministry--that was a simple and natural victory, for the
-agitation of minds and events had been sufficient to displace the Duke
-of Wellington, but the really dangerous part of Lord Grey's position
-was, on the contrary, the inevitable and powerful progress of the Whig
-principles, which sought to proceed to extremities; for when a nation
-lays its hand upon its ancient institutions, one change often leads to
-another. After having reformed the state, and given a greater latitude
-to elections, must they not reform the Church? did not the situation
-of Ireland require modification? The Dissenters complained, and with
-justice, of their grievances; it would have been an absurd attempt to
-set a limit to a reformed parliament, to say to the nation "Thus far
-shalt thou go, and no farther." The parliament became impatient, while
-religious scruples arose in the mind of Lord Grey, in the old party of
-which Canning was formerly the head, now represented by Mr. Stanley,
-and, above all, in the heart of William the Fourth.
-
-Talleyrand was as well aware of the danger as Lord Grey himself, for
-he well knew the powerful influence exercised by young and ardent
-opinions; it soon became impossible to arrest the parliamentary
-agitation. The venerable Lord Grey was suddenly seized with disgust for
-the whole proceeding; he would not raise a sacrilegious hand against
-the Church; he sent in his resignation, and England well remembers the
-touching explanations he gave upon his own ministerial conduct in the
-House of Lords. From the time of the appointment of Lord Melbourne,
-the French ambassador foresaw the invincible tendency of affairs, the
-triumph of the Ultra-Whigs, and, perhaps, of Lord Durham,[15] and
-began to think of retiring, for he no longer played the principal part,
-of which he was always ambitious.
-
- [15] I speak of the time before Lord Durham had taken the side of
- Russia and of Conservatism.
-
-Another circumstance added to this feeling. In the revolution just
-encountered by the ministry, Lord Palmerston had still retained the
-Foreign Office, his opinions being of a less moderate cast than those
-of Lord Grey; and as his disposition was one rather difficult to
-deal with, serious dissensions had already arisen between him and
-Talleyrand. From the first formation of their ministry, the Whigs had
-felt the necessity of augmenting their consideration with foreign
-powers; they were not ignorant that the English nation, which preferred
-them for their popular opinions and their patriotic sentiments, did
-not feel equal confidence in their habits of business and their
-comprehension of the situation of Europe. Lord Palmerston considered
-that, after the treaty of the 8th of July, which secured such great
-advantages to Russia, a certain armed demonstration was inevitable upon
-the Eastern question, and he, therefore, proposed to Talleyrand that
-the squadrons of France and England should be united, and sail under
-the flags of both nations in the Black Sea.
-
-Talleyrand perfectly understood the interest felt by the Whigs in this
-armed demonstration, but he considered it far too bold a step to be
-ventured upon in their actual situation. As a continental power, France
-might well call upon the alliance of England if necessary, or, on the
-other hand, afford to her all possible assistance; but then the whole
-of the Holy Alliance was close upon her, and this demonstration might
-lead to a real war. In the opinion of Talleyrand it was necessary
-to fortify the moral alliance, and place a barrier to resist the
-encroachments of Russia; but it would be a hazardous undertaking to
-make a direct attack on her flag in the Black Sea. He, therefore, held
-back from the propositions of Lord Palmerston: he explained to him
-that, instead of an armed demonstration, which would be of doubtful
-advantage, nay, possibly altogether useless, it would be desirable to
-prepare an act, expressive of future policy; and made it evident to him
-that a treaty of quadruple alliance, which would unite the south of
-Europe against the north, could not fail to lead to great results, even
-in the midst of the various but transient events of a party war. The
-treaty concluded between France, England, Spain, and Portugal, owed its
-existence to this idea, this favourite conception of Prince Talleyrand;
-he would, however, have been much better pleased could he have also
-included Austria, according to the desire he had cherished in his mind
-ever since 1814.
-
-Lord Palmerston entered into Talleyrand's plans. England confined
-herself to a few nautical parades in the Black Sea, but from this time
-a coldness sprung up between the two diplomatists. The English minister
-is a person of very irritable temper, touchy, and of a changeable
-disposition, and Talleyrand took a great dislike to him; and as, on the
-other side, the cabinet of which Lord Melbourne was the chief was drawn
-on from one concession to another, he soon resolved to leave England.
-It was announced that his health was failing, and he went into the
-country to seek peace in retirement. Like Pythagoras when the thunder
-is heard from afar, Talleyrand preferred the desert and the echo.
-During his last journey to Paris he became friends with Count Pozzo di
-Borgo, that is to say, with the Russian idea. The two diplomatists did
-not venture as yet to hold any official communications, but they often
-met in little mysterious banquets, in a diplomatic retreat at Bellevue.
-
-Talleyrand quitted London, popular clamour was a source of annoyance
-to him; it was no longer a dispute between one portion of the
-aristocracy and another, from henceforth it appeared to be the people
-against the aristocracy itself: and the stake was too great. He
-therefore left England definitively for Valençay, explaining, in a
-most dignified letter, the reason of his retirement. There is a period
-with politicians when they begin to live for posterity; they then all
-seek an opportunity of explaining themselves, of laying open their
-conduct, and striving to rectify the judgment of future times--they
-feel a desire of revealing themselves solemnly to the public; and such
-was the motive which induced Talleyrand to speak at a meeting of the
-French Institute. He said but a few words on the occasion of an _éloge_
-that had been pronounced, but those few afforded an explanation of the
-motives that had actuated a long and busy political life, passed in the
-midst of governments, passions, and parties.
-
-After this time Talleyrand lived either in Paris or on his estates in
-the country, and was always consulted with the most profound veneration
-by all the thinking heads of government. He at one time had some idea
-of going to Vienna to accomplish a plan suggested by the Duchess de
-Dino, which would unite the two families of Talleyrand and Esterhazy.
-The latter, it is well known, is the richest family in Austria, and
-during the last seven years Madame de Dino had paid great attention to
-her uncle's affairs, and had been so successful in her management that
-his property was quite free from debt, and one of the most considerable
-of the present day. The fortune of M. de Talleyrand, after so many
-reverses, is said almost to resemble one of the fairy tales in the
-"Arabian Nights."
-
-There are few political characters with whom the press has been more
-busy than with Prince Talleyrand, during the latter years of his
-life. Every step he took, every gesture, every action, was made the
-subject of the most contradictory reports. He had now attained his
-eighty-fourth year, and it was evident his faculties were beginning to
-suffer considerably from his advanced age. He was merely the shadow
-of his former self. Every now and then there would be a gleam of his
-powerful intellect, but they would soon disappear again in the weakness
-caused by extreme age, and so busy and exhausted a life. He could no
-longer walk a single step, but was carried about or wheeled in a chair,
-and the slightest jolt drew from him tears of suffering--most miserable
-resemblance that exists between decrepitude and childhood! In fact, his
-career was come to an end, though they in vain strove to prolong it by
-endeavouring to rouse him.
-
-That career had indeed been marvellous, and though Prince Talleyrand
-be reproached with the constant changeableness of his opinions, we may
-observe the same principle predominant under all circumstances--the
-alliance with England. I have selected the Duc de Richelieu as the
-type of the Russian alliance, and in comparing the services of these
-two political characters, we shall easily discover that the duke did
-more service to his country during the short time that he held the
-reins of government than Prince Talleyrand in his lengthened career,
-because Richelieu had adopted a more national plan, one more favourable
-to our foreign interests. Talleyrand never was subservient to any
-particular government or doctrine. He had a sort of personal feeling
-which degenerated into selfishness. He did not betray Napoleon in the
-literal sense of the word, he only quitted him in time; neither did he
-actually betray the Restoration, he abandoned it when it was abandoning
-itself. No doubt there is a good deal of selfishness in this system,
-whose first thought is of its own situation and fortune, and afterwards
-of the government it serves; but, perhaps, it is hardly to be expected
-we should find in men of very great talent the degree of self-denial
-which leads to a blind devotion towards a person or a cause. Talleyrand
-was a little inclined to apply to himself the expressions he was
-accustomed to address to his _employés_ when he was minister for
-foreign affairs: "There are two things, gentlemen, which I forbid in
-the most positive manner,--too much zeal and too absolute devotion,
-because they compromise both persons and affairs." Such was the mind
-of Talleyrand; with a cold heart and barren imagination, he was
-compared to a real tactician, judging men and parties with mathematical
-precision. He reserved all his activity for the decisive moments which
-overturned thrones and governments, when he considered prompt action as
-of importance. In revolutions his experience had been very great; he
-immediately understood the value of a situation, and decided upon it by
-an apophthegm, which at once struck home. His was, perhaps, the mind
-which was most capable of foreseeing, least able to prevent, and most
-skilled in deriving advantage from the different phases of empires.
-
-But now his life was drawing to a close, and symptoms of approaching
-death appeared on every side. For a long time he had been afflicted
-with a painful complaint, which he bore with less resignation than he
-had exhibited under political events; the attacks were very violent,
-and the prince became subject to constant fainting fits--warning
-symptoms of the approach of his last enemy. The total decay of
-Talleyrand was apparent to every body; the sharpness and delicacy of
-his wit every now and then shot forth a dying gleam, but the _man_
-was at an end. His visits to the Tuileries were a most melancholy
-spectacle, a sad memorial of the nothingness of human greatness.
-Alas! that vast intellect was fast sinking into second childhood.
-His complaint was incurable; it was in the first place old age, and
-then, also, an old affection of anthrax, or white gangrene, for which
-he was obliged to undergo a very painful operation, and after it was
-performed the agonies of death followed in rapid succession. He was
-perfectly aware of the danger of his situation, and considered it
-a point of dignity not to appear alarmed, but went through all the
-proper etiquette with death. For a considerable time he had been in
-communication with a pious ecclesiastic in Paris; before him was the
-example of his family, and the recollection of his uncle the Cardinal,
-of blessed memory; and of late years his benefactions to the chapel
-of Valençay had been very great, both in magnificent donations and
-pious endowments. Though he had forgotten his religious obligations,
-he had never made an open profession of impiety, and had preserved a
-considerable degree of loftiness of mind, so that when the thought of
-death was presented to him he did not shrink from a retractation. No
-person was better aware of the weakness and puerile vanity of professed
-free-thinkers.
-
-This retractation was not the offspring of a sudden impulse; on the
-contrary, it had been concerted three months before with infinite
-care, as if it had been a diplomatic paper sent to the church. Full
-of submission, yet with a mixture of dignity, the prince addressed
-it to the sovereign pontiff, repenting all his participation in the
-scandals by which his life had been stained, particularly his adhesion
-to the civil constitution of the clergy; and he now acknowledged the
-jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Paris, and submitted to the Catholic
-laws of the holy see. This was the manner in which he prepared for
-death. Accounts of the state of his health were incessantly despatched
-to Neuilly; he had rendered great services to Louis Philippe, who had
-often consulted him and derived the benefit of his experience, and who
-was now resolved to pay a last visit to the last descendant of the
-Périgords. When the king was announced, the prince said with a feeble
-voice, but without any appearance of emotion, as if the attention were
-due to him,--"It is the greatest honour my house has received."
-
-There was a strong aristocratic feeling in the expression, 'My house;'
-it signified that, though the visit was honourable to his family, there
-was nothing to cause surprise in it. Neither did he forget, even at
-that moment, the etiquette which forbids that any body should stand in
-the presence of a sovereign without being presented, and he immediately
-added, in a calm tone, "I have a duty to fulfil--it is to present to
-your majesty the persons who are in the room, and who have not yet had
-that honour;" and he introduced his physician, his surgeon, and his
-_valet-de-chambre_. This behaviour when at the point of death bore
-the stamp of high aristocratic manners, perfectly in keeping with the
-visit with which his last moments had been honoured; it was part of
-the decorum and ancient ceremony observed between noble families; the
-escutcheons of both bore the same relative rank; the youngest branch
-of the Bourbons went to visit the youngest branch of the Périgords. In
-ancient times the houses of Navarre and De Quercy had met together on
-the common field of battle, and the cry _Re que Diou_ had been uttered
-at the same time with the war-cry of Henry IV., by the old southern
-nobility, the language of _Oc_ being common to both.
-
-People expressed surprise at the signal honour conferred upon
-Talleyrand, but it shewed that the customs of gentle blood were not
-comprehended by the spirit of inferior society. No one was more
-attached to his illustrious descent than the old diplomatist, and
-the younger branch of the Bourbons came itself of too good a stock
-to forget it; the two cadets of De Quercy and Navarre had met in the
-recollection of their race, as in their political life.
-
-Surrounded by his family in his last moments, and assisted by the
-pious offices of the Abbé Dupanloup, vicar-general of the diocese of
-Paris, Prince Talleyrand received the sacraments of the Church, for
-he had been again admitted into her bosom, and, before expiring, he
-again uttered one of those happy expressions which were so often upon
-his lips. Observing one of his grandnieces dressed entirely in white,
-according to the custom observed before the first communion, he raised
-his heavy eyelids, kissed her forehead, gave her his blessing, and then
-turning to the spectators, he said, "See the way of the world--there is
-the beginning, here the end!" In a few minutes afterwards he expired,
-on the 18th of May, 1838, at ten minutes before four o'clock in the
-afternoon, having just completed his eighty-fourth year. He left a
-will, by which his immense fortune was well and wisely disposed of. Has
-he also left memoirs? I think I know; but these memoirs are deposited
-in the hands of his family, or of other people of whose discretion he
-was quite secure.
-
-Well, then, must I confess it? I do not believe them to be in any way
-curious. People talk a great deal about these pretended revelations,
-but I still repeat that they are few in number. Talleyrand only wrote
-what he pleased, he only committed public transactions to paper; and
-it is well known that, in reading these memoirs, he used to dwell
-with pleasure on the mischievous pranks of the young abbé. Was it
-the reminiscence of his youth that he enjoyed? I am inclined to think
-so, for I have always observed that this feeling is very strong among
-statesmen. Would you wish to awaken in the mind of Pozzo di Borgo
-all the vigour of his intellectual powers?--speak to him of Corsica
-and Paoli; would you bring a ray of delight and unreserve to unbend
-the brow of Metternich?--talk to him of his embassy to Paris in the
-beginning of the Empire, those days of pleasure and dissipation.
-
-My idea is, that the memoirs of the man who played so conspicuous a
-part in the political history of the world will consist principally
-of two parts--emotions and justifications: emotions, because people
-always remember them, they filter through the whole tenour of their
-lives, they dwell in the brain of man, and rule over his thoughts; and
-justifications will undoubtedly be required for the several fatal deeds
-committed during the life of Prince Talleyrand.
-
-In the course of that long life too much regard was shewn to customs
-and ceremonies, which are merely the trappings of life, and too little
-to duty and conscience, which are its foundation and object. He
-attended too much to the outward matters of existence--to riches, to
-honour, to decency of behaviour, but he thought nothing of the delicacy
-of mind, which is the strongest pledge of an honest man employed in
-public affairs. I am not fonder of simpletons in politics than other
-people, but, for the honour of mankind, I am willing to believe men may
-be clever and still retain perfect probity and good faith. It would
-be too dreadful to suppose that one cannot be a statesman without a
-complete abdication of the government of one's heart. Surely a strong
-head and powerful abilities are not the sole requisites for regulating
-the affairs of a government.
-
-
-
-
-COUNT POZZO DI BORGO.
-
-
-There is no county in Europe whose national character is so ancient,
-so thoroughly peculiar, as the Island of Corsica. Imagine a vast
-landscape of Salvator Rosa's, with all the features which he alone was
-capable of depicting, and whose type he has sought in Calabria and the
-Abruzzi; add to this a people whose disposition is hardy and obstinate;
-whose affections, love, hatred, or jealousy, are perpetuated from one
-generation to another; whose proud and patriotic attachment to their
-native soil forms part of their earliest existence, and terminates only
-with their life; also cities cheerful as those of Tuscany, and wild,
-uncultivated, mountainous districts; you will still have but a feeble
-representation of Corsica, that picturesque and fertile island of the
-Mediterranean.
-
-The population is divided into two distinct races; the one
-comprehending the old aboriginal families, the other composed of
-foreign colonists, the greater part descended from refugees who were
-compelled to fly from revolutions in Piémont, Genoa, and Tuscany, and
-were successively deposited in the island, like the layers of lava
-around a volcano. To the first of these races belong the Paolis and
-the Pozzo di Borgos; to the second, the Buonapartes and the Salicettis.
-According to the usual custom among primitive nations, each family
-forms a clan, and each village a community; sentiments are inherited
-like the patrimony of the family--it is like ancient Rome suckled by a
-wolf in the time of the companions of Romulus.
-
-The family of the Pozzo di Borgos, as I have already stated, belongs to
-the aboriginal races; its antiquity may be ascertained by consulting
-the book of the statutes of Corsica, and also the history of the
-feudal war between the Castellans of Montechi and the city of Ajaccio,
-of which they even disputed the sovereignty. One of the family is
-mentioned in the charters as orator of the people, and at the time
-the island was under the dominion of Genoa, the illustrious Pozzo di
-Borgo is described as attorney-general for the provinces of Ajaccio and
-Sartene; his name, like that of the Paolis, was Pascal. His opponents,
-even at that period, were from the family of the Bacciochi, then
-merely merchants of Ajaccio; and his notary was Jerome Buonaparte, who
-certifies the mission of Captain Secondos Pozzo di Borgo, deputy to
-the republic of Genoa.[16] There is some pleasure in relating these
-circumstances, because the life of Count Pozzo di Borgo, during its
-whole course, appeared to be connected with ancient times. Nothing
-is forgotten on that burning soil, and we shall again meet with
-the Paolis, the Buonapartes, the Pozzos, the Bacciochis, and the
-Salicettis, engaged in the most important conflicts on the theatre
-of the great world, as they had formerly been in the little town of
-Ajaccio.
-
- [16] "Il nobile Pasquale Pozzo di Borgo, oratore dei popoli di là da'
- monti in Corsica...." 1584.
-
- "... Per egregium virum Pasqualem Pozzo di Borgo, civem Adjacii,
- oratorem et procuratorem populorum provinciæ Adjacii et Sartenæ, et
- aliorum hominum ultra montes Corsicæ."
-
- "Tutta la provincia di là da' monti nell' isola di Corsica in
- generale, ha eletto per oratore il Capitano Secondo Pozzo di Borgo
- sì per assistere presso le VV. SS...." 1597.
-
- All these charters are extracted from the work published by the wise
- and judicious magistrate, C. Gregori, _Statuti Civili e Criminali di
- Corsica_.
-
-In disturbed times European diplomacy employs two powerful engines of
-political research; in the first place, accredited ambassadors, who
-examine and decide upon affairs in a regular and almost a classical
-manner; and secondly, active agents, the greater part of whom are
-military men employed to travel about in Europe, for the purpose of
-ascertaining accurately the strength and the resources of each power.
-During the time of the French Republic and the Empire of Napoleon,
-England and Russia considerably augmented the number of their military
-diplomatists, and this may be said to have been the first employment of
-Charles Andrew Pozzo di Borgo, before the Russian cabinets had decided
-upon pursuing a regular and comprehensive system. The people of the
-south of Europe are especially gifted with a quick, subtle, and acute
-understanding, and the Corsicans add to these qualities an obstinate
-adherence to their purpose, and a rugged sentiment of their own rights,
-which formed such prominent features in the character of Buonaparte.
-Metternich is fond of repeating, "It was not the armies of Napoleon
-that occasioned us the most uneasiness; it was his inventive spirit,
-his acute subtleties, in short, his diabolical intellect, by which we
-Germans were hemmed in and entangled on every side." Count Pozzo di
-Borgo possessed the same species of sharp and sagacious activity; in
-that country there was a sort of general type common to all, like the
-bronzed complexion and the sparkling, searching eyes.
-
-A few leagues from Ajaccio lies a small village, which bears the name
-of Pozzo di Borgo (well of the city); tradition says, however, that the
-family of that name inhabited the little fort of Montechi among the
-mountains: the Pozzis, the Poggis, and the Pazzis, were all families
-of the middle ages. As it was in Germany with the Castellans of the
-Seven Mountains, so also in Corsica the nobles reckoned their pedigree
-from some of the highest peaks in the island, under the shelter of
-rocks and wild fig-trees, where so many black crosses, symbols of
-_Vendetta_, are still to be seen. When Corsica was annexed to France,
-the noble descent of the Pozzos was substantiated by a supreme council
-of the island. The subject of this memoir was born the same year as
-Napoleon, if we rectify a little the date assigned by chronologists to
-the latter event. He first saw the light on the 8th of March, 1768, and
-had, therefore, attained his majority at the time of the revolution,
-when the popular agitation produced a most startling and arousing
-effect upon Corsica; and as if awaking from slumber two parties started
-up--a national party, and one devoted to the French interests. Paoli
-and Pozzo di Borgo indulged in dreams of the independence of their
-country, but without the intervention of foreign aid. The Buonapartes,
-who had for a short time ranged themselves under the banner of Paoli,
-afterwards joined the Arenas and the Salicettis, partisans of the
-French and Jacobin school. Before these divisions had assumed a
-very decided complexion, they contented themselves with giving an
-enthusiastic welcome to the revolution; intoxication prevailed every
-where, and at the age of twenty-two years Pozzo di Borgo, secretary to
-the corps of the nobility, was despatched as deputy-extraordinary to
-the National Assembly.
-
-This primary office afterwards led to his appointment to the definitive
-deputation; and as the friend of Paoli, a circumstance which at that
-time conferred the greatest popularity, young Pozzo took his seat in
-that insane convocation, which, under the name of the Legislative
-Assembly, and in the midst of tumults and massacres, soon made an
-end of the French monarchy. He was appointed one of the diplomatic
-committee, at the time their proceedings were conducted in so singular
-a manner by Brissot, under whose management despatches to foreign
-powers consisted of speeches borrowed from the tragedy of "Brutus,"
-and directed against Austria and Prussia. Such language ought to have
-been backed by victories, but the Legislative Assembly had not as yet
-the internal strength of which, at a later period, the convocation
-became possessed, through the energy of its committee of public safety.
-The Legislative Assembly threw every thing into disorder: at war with
-the ministers of the king, governed by the idea of a republic, yet
-without daring openly to proclaim it, they permitted the horrors of the
-10th of August, and the 7th of September, to take place before their
-eyes. This wretched meeting possessed neither the brilliancy of the
-Constituent Assembly nor the terrible authority of the Convention, but
-always represented a state of transition, which is invariably one of
-mediocrity, because men dare not undertake any thing, nor, indeed, are
-they capable of doing so.
-
-Pozzo very rarely appeared in the tribune, but whenever he had occasion
-so to do, for the purpose of expressing the opinions of the committee,
-he had recourse to the favourite phraseology of the period, for
-which less blame is due to the orators than to the general bent of
-the public mind: it was the pleasure of society to be governed after
-that fashion. I have preserved some fragments of a speech made by
-him on the 16th July, 1792, with the object of inducing the assembly
-to declare war against Germany. It is well known that two different
-parties were at that time equally desirous of commencing hostilities
-in Europe--the court party, who, being desirous of placing Louis
-at the head of an overpowering public force, considered war as the
-most probable means of attaining a military dictatorship; while, on
-the other hand, the republican faction, headed by the Girondists,
-entertained hopes that the democratic principle would be more easily
-rendered triumphant in the midst of tumults and excesses. Pozzo di
-Borgo was the willing representative of the Girondist party at the
-tribune. "The German confederation," said he, "whose independence is
-naturally protected by France, the only power capable of preserving
-it from the insatiable ambition of Austria, has beheld with joy
-the formation of that formidable league intended to overturn your
-constitution: their territory is already overrun by the enemy's troops,
-the northern league seeks to reduce the whole of Europe into a state of
-servitude, and exhibits every where a menacing appearance, supported
-by a strong force of mercenaries covered with iron and greedy of gold,
-to whom all usurpations will become easy. To the French nation belongs
-the task of preserving the world from this terrible scourge, and of
-repairing the mischiefs occasioned by the shameful carelessness, or the
-perfidious malignity of those, who view with indifference the utter
-destruction of all kinds of liberty. The French nation, by combating
-all the common enemies of mankind, will have the glory of restoring
-the political harmony which will preserve Europe from general slavery.
-We have contracted a vast debt towards the whole world, it is the
-establishment and the practice of the rights of man upon the earth;
-and Liberty, fertile in virtues and talents, affords us abundant
-means of discharging it in full. Our enemies' hopes, no doubt, have
-been raised by the transient dissensions that disturb our unanimity;
-they augur from thence the disorganisation of our government, but we
-will not accomplish their guilty desires. We are well aware that in
-the present state of affairs a change in our political institutions
-would necessarily occasion an interregnum in the laws, a suspension of
-authority, licentiousness, mischief in all parts of the kingdom, and
-the inevitable loss of our liberty. Our vigilance will preserve without
-destroying; it will place the traitors in a state in which they will
-be incapable of injuring us; and by the stability of our government
-we will deprive the ambitious of all the opportunities they hope for,
-in the incessant changes and revolutions incident to empires. By thus
-uniting energy and wisdom, we may attain to perfect and glorious
-success."
-
-It may be observed that in the midst of these expressions, set forth in
-the phraseology then in fashion, the stability of the government and
-the necessity for preserving order were spoken of by M. Pozzo di Borgo,
-both of which principles were afterwards displayed in the highest
-degree in his mind.
-
-The mission of the Legislative Assembly being concluded, the deputy
-returned to Corsica, and was associated with General Paoli for the
-direction of the administration of the island. The shocks sustained
-by the people had added fresh energy to their patriotic character, a
-public spirit was aroused, a proud independence in accordance with the
-national feelings of the ancient Corsica. Does not every people long
-for liberty? The Girondists had dreamed of federalism for France; and
-Paoli, in his turn, took a pride in forming a republic which should be
-perfectly independent and detached from the surrounding sovereignties.
-Paoli was a man of powerful understanding, completely the child of
-nature, and already old in years, though young in energy. He delighted
-in the idea of a Corsican republic, as being in some measure a return
-towards primitive habits; and this motive was strengthened by the
-horror inspired by the revolutionary events that were taking place in
-France. So ardent an enthusiasm never was known as that with which he
-inspired the Corsican families dwelling among the most rugged peaks
-of that mountainous country, and whose sole passion appeared to be a
-vehement love of liberty, acquired by the most laborious efforts.
-
-The families of the Arenas and Buonapartes, who were inhabitants of
-the plains and the cities, had sided warmly with the French party;
-they were connected with the clubs; and Salicetti was their organ
-at the National Convention, to denounce Paoli and Pozzo di Borgo as
-propagators of a system tending to separate Corsica from France;
-and as that island had been declared an integral part of the French
-Republic, they were both summoned to the bar of the nation to offer
-a justification of their conduct. In this lay one of the first germs
-of the deeply rooted hatred entertained by Salicetti, Arena, and
-Buonaparte, against Paoli and Pozzo di Borgo; from thence arose the
-enmity which, in their inflamed minds, overstepped the limits of the
-island of Corsica, and contributed, more than people suspected, to the
-marvellous events of the Revolution and the Empire.
-
-When Paoli and Pozzo di Borgo received this terrible summons, they
-were together at Corte, the capital of the mountainous district. It
-was not unexpected, and they were both well aware of the consequences
-of a refusal to obey the commands of the Convention, for the conduct
-of this inexorable tribunal was that of a victor with whom lenity and
-forgiveness are unknown. What was to be done? To obey would be to
-submit at once to the yoke of the territorial unity, which sought to
-reduce all the various nations comprehended within it to one level.
-Resistance would, perhaps, be a still more dangerous course, for the
-French Republic had an army which they would be utterly incapable of
-withstanding, and it was also supported by a considerable party in
-Corsica. A few regiments occupied the city of Ajaccio, and a battalion
-formed the garrison of the fort of Corte and several posts on the
-sea-coast. Signals announced the arrival of a squadron bearing the
-tricoloured flag. Under these circumstances, the commissioners of the
-departments declared themselves a permanent assembly in a meeting of
-the people of Corte, and the tumultuous _comitia_ of the national party
-unanimously invited their chief, Paoli, and Pozzo di Borgo, to continue
-their administration. Finally, they declared _that it was beneath the
-dignity of the people of Corsica to trouble themselves with the two
-families of Arena and Buonaparte, and that they should be abandoned to
-their remorse and to infamy for having deserted the public cause_. I
-here copy the expressions of the national _consulta_.[17]
-
- [17] I saw all these papers, which were printed in 1793, in the hands
- of Count Pozzo di Borgo; he took pleasure in shewing the curious
- decree against Napoleon, afterwards the pride and glory of Corsica.
- The _consulta_ was composed of 1200 deputies.
-
-The popular energy, which sways in all instances the first movements in
-favour of liberty, was here very evident. What steps did they propose
-taking to maintain themselves in this _improvisé_ independence, as well
-as to uphold the decrees published by the assembly of Corsica? In the
-meanwhile fearful intelligence arrived among the mountains: Toulon,
-hitherto in the occupation of the English, had just fallen into the
-hands of the French Republic, whose orders Corsica had treated with
-contempt; and, to crown the whole, a young officer of twenty-six
-years of age, even the Buonaparte devoted to infamy and remorse by the
-Corsican council, had taken part in that memorable enterprise, and had
-been the principal cause of its success. The port of Toulon being now
-in the hands of the Republic, in thirty-six hours a squadron might
-arrive, and threaten with entire destruction the companions of Paoli.
-
-Just at this difficult juncture the English Mediterranean fleet
-appeared off Ajaccio, bringing news from Toulon and tidings of the
-warlike preparations going on there; the admiral also offered his
-protection to Corsica, agreeing to recognise her independence, under
-the sovereignty of the king of Great Britain. Paoli went on board the
-squadron to treat with the admiral regarding his country, and a general
-assembly was convoked to meet on the 10th of June, 1794, for the
-purpose of determining upon the form of constitution to be established.
-Their plan tallied nearly with the ideas of the English Magna Charta,
-proposing the establishment of a parliament which should consist of two
-chambers, a council of state, and a viceroy supported by responsible
-ministers. Paoli proposed Pozzo di Borgo as president of the council.
-When the latter was presented to Admiral Elliott he gazed upon his
-swarthy complexion, his sparkling eyes, and meagre and active figure,
-and asked Paoli whether that was the person he proposed placing at
-the head of the government. "I can answer for him," said Paoli; "he
-is a young man as well fitted for the government of a nation as he is
-capable of leading his countrymen unflinchingly on the field of battle.
-You may place implicit confidence in him." Upon this testimony the
-admiral confirmed his choice.
-
-The state-council being the executive portion of the Corsican
-government, the duty devolved upon Pozzo di Borgo of remodelling the
-institutions of his country, which was henceforward to be free. I have
-seen the complete code of this administration: it is a summary of the
-public rights of the nation, a collection of primitive laws, one of
-those codes which regulates the most trifling circumstances affecting
-the interests of the people; among us it is a great historical
-curiosity, for we are too far advanced in civilisation to be capable of
-forming an idea of the first requirements of a people of such primitive
-habits.
-
-The national government in Corsica lasted, however, barely two years;
-the protection afforded by England was at too great a distance, and
-a few regiments despatched from Gibraltar did not possess sufficient
-influence to restrain the population of the cities devoted to France,
-which was at that time every where victorious, and, by its proximity,
-constantly held a sword suspended over the government of Paoli and
-Pozzo di Borgo. The latter embarked on board the English fleet when
-it became evident the crisis could no longer be averted, and that the
-standard of the French Republic was about to be planted at Ajaccio.
-This squadron quitted the shores of Corsica, bearing with it all the
-sad remains of the ruined government; it touched at the island of
-Elba, sailed towards Naples, and from thence again to Elba--rather a
-curious circumstance, which long held a place in the recollection of
-Pozzo di Borgo, and which may possibly have in some degree influenced
-the resolution of the Allies, in 1814, to confer upon Napoleon the
-sovereignty of Porto Ferrajo. The Corsican president completed his
-voyage to England in the Minerva, which formed part of the squadron of
-Nelson, who lost an eye in Corsica, and was afterwards so celebrated;
-but he was then only in the dawn of his fame, and had not attained to
-the renown which crowned his name at Aboukir and Trafalgar.
-
-Pozzo di Borgo remained eighteen months in London, where he received
-great attention from the English ministry, who considered him to have
-displayed great method and ability during his short administration.
-Having become intimate with some old French families, he then began
-his career of diplomacy and secret negotiations; which, at a late
-period, led him into a more extended sphere of action. He was at Vienna
-in 1798, at the time of the campaign of Suwarof, when foreign courts
-were agitated by so many various projects. Tremendous shocks had been
-experienced in France. On emerging from the reign of terror, and the
-formidable system of unity proclaimed by the Convention, a strong and
-deeply rooted reaction towards the restoration of the royal family
-had taken place; the royalist colours were worn in good society, and
-the most extreme detestation was felt for the revolution, because
-it had not as yet given birth to any regular system of government.
-At this time Buonaparte was in Egypt, with the greater part of the
-brave legions who had conquered Italy and the Rhine; all our foreign
-conquests were lost to us; on the Alps we were hardly able to retain
-a few posts, and they were closely pressed; and, as a climax, Suwarof
-appeared with victory in his train--Suwarof, the hero and saint of
-the Russian army--Suwarof, around whom rallied all the hopes of
-the coalition! Pozzo di Borgo was engaged in all the diplomatic
-arrangements that accompanied the military proceedings.
-
-The antipathy that existed between the Austrians and Russians, far
-more than the battle of Zurich, put a stop to the progress of the
-coalition, and Pozzo di Borgo remained some time at Vienna, receiving a
-pension there as a French emigrant of noble birth. It was at the time
-when one of that family of Buonapartes, proscribed by the Assembly of
-Corsica, was elevated to the Consulate, and being now in the position
-of a powerful dictator, he had established an efficient government in
-France, and was engaged in repairing the wrecks of the administration
-by means of his steady energy. The power of the laws once more became
-manifest; the executive administration was lodged in the hands of a
-few, and was active and advantageous to the people; and, by a singular
-chance, which the caprices of fortune can alone explain, the old
-friends of the Buonapartes, the Arenas of Ajaccio, were proscribed by
-the young Corsican, and delivered over to military law, or driven into
-exile. Other destinies, besides those of a city, or a population of
-about 100,000 souls, claimed the attention of Napoleon Buonaparte, now
-completely detached from his native country; but, in spite of all these
-commotions, his thoughts more than once turned upon his old personal
-enemy, Pozzo di Borgo, then on his journey from London to Vienna, and
-who must have shed some tears of vexation when he saw the power of
-the young consul extend so far as to prescribe to Europe the peace
-of Amiens. The shade of Paoli arose to protest against this immense
-advancement of the Buonapartes.[18]
-
- [18] This observation appears to indicate some inaccuracy regarding
- the date of Paoli's demise. It took place in Feb. 1807.--_Editor._
-
-When war again resounded on the earth, Pozzo di Borgo entered the
-service of Russia, and devoted himself to the diplomatic line. The
-firmness of character, the quick apprehension of facts, and the
-knowledge of mankind which he evinced, together with an extreme
-delicacy of judgment, were certain pledges of his success in the
-conduct of business between one government and another. He received the
-title of Conseiller d'Etat at St. Petersburg, and was soon despatched
-to the court of Vienna, charged with a secret mission. The prince
-whose service he had entered was that Alexander whose generous and
-mystical mind was sadly employed in veiling, by the uprightness of his
-conduct, and the exalted tenor of his life, a mournful recollection
-which weighed upon his heart and his conscience. The revolution of the
-palace, that had placed Alexander on the throne, had been directed
-by England; and consequently must have been inclined to favour the
-coalition against Buonaparte, who was about to place the imperial crown
-upon his heroic brow; and Pozzo di Borgo was one of the diplomatic
-agents charged with special and secret missions to the allied courts,
-once more united against France.
-
-We now find him at Vienna; but he only remained there a few months,
-for the Czar was desirous of acting with great vigour, and therefore
-despatched him, as Russian commissioner, to the Anglo-Russian and
-Neapolitan army, which was about to commence operations in the south
-of Europe under the influence of the noble Queen Caroline, so grossly
-slandered in the pamphlets issued by Napoleon. This army had hardly
-assembled at Naples, when the artillery of Austerlitz and the shouts
-of victory filled the air; and, as an immediate consequence, the peace
-of Presburg was signed. As this treaty separated Austria from the
-coalition, it occasioned the dissolution of the army of Naples; and
-Pozzo di Borgo returned to Vienna, and from thence to St. Petersburg,
-where great military events were in preparation.
-
-During the campaign crowned by the battle of Austerlitz, when Napoleon
-had advanced so boldly into the interior of Moravia, Prussia had
-hesitated whether she should join the coalition. It was impossible to
-deny her public conduct in that respect, and Napoleon had borne it in
-mind; this indecision, however, ceased after the battle of Austerlitz,
-and a twelvemonth afterwards the united force of the Russians and
-Prussians was drawn up together.
-
-Pozzo di Borgo was called upon to accompany the emperor in this
-campaign, and the Czar offered him rank in the army; such being the
-custom of Russia, where there is no advancement except by means of
-military rank: he therefore received the title of Colonel in the
-suite of the emperor, a post which attached him to the person of the
-sovereign. Being, for the fourth time, despatched to Vienna, after the
-battle of Jena, he strove to arouse Austria from the torpor into which
-the peace of Presburg had plunged her, but in vain; for the Austrian
-cabinet was then desirous of peace at any price. Colonel Pozzo received
-a commission to proceed to the Dardanelles, to treat for peace with the
-Turks, in conjunction with the English envoy; he was received on board
-the Russian fleet, under the orders of Admiral Siniavim, stationed at
-the entrance of the Dardanelles, and off the island of Tenedos; he was
-present in the admiral's ship at the battle of Mount Athos, between
-the Russian fleet and that of the sultan, and there received his first
-military decoration.
-
-Napoleon was now approaching the apogée of his glory: the French and
-Russian armies had bravely measured their strength, and the French
-emperor had so greatly risen in Alexander's estimation that, at the
-peace of Tilsit, Napoleon was saluted with the title of Brother, at the
-very time the old Russian aristocracy were accusing their sovereign of
-abandoning the cause of his country. In the interchange of projects
-which took place at Tilsit--in those friendly meetings, when the
-waters of the Niemen flowed beneath the two emperors, locked in each
-other's arms, was it possible Colonel Pozzo should not be aware that
-his services would henceforth be an embarrassment to Russia? Upon his
-arrival at St. Petersburg he held a conversation with the emperor,
-full of confidence and unreserve on both sides, when each party took
-a candid survey of his position. The Emperor Alexander declared to
-Colonel Pozzo that there was no reason he should leave his service, and
-that the ties of friendship he had contracted with Napoleon did not
-oblige him to make such a sacrifice. The colonel replied that he could
-no longer be useful to his sovereign; on the contrary, he should be a
-source of embarrassment to him, for Buonaparte had not forgotten the
-feud of his early days: sooner or later he would demand the banishment
-of his old enemy, the Czar would be too generous to agree to this, and
-his refusal would raise difficulties for his government. "Besides,"
-said he, "the alliance between your majesty and Napoleon will not be of
-long duration; I am well acquainted with the deceitful character and
-insatiable ambition of Buonaparte. At this moment one of your majesty's
-hands is held by Persia, the other by Turkey, and Buonaparte presses
-upon your chest; get your hands free in the first instance, and then
-you will cast off the weight that now troubles you. Some years hence we
-shall meet again."
-
-Count Pozzo requested permission to travel; and he was again at Vienna
-in 1808, when Austria, with her patient resignation, was preparing
-fresh armaments against Napoleon, and declaring the rupture that had
-taken place with him. I am not aware if history records a longer or
-more honourable struggle than that of Austria against the Revolution
-and the Empire. She submitted to every sacrifice, then prepared for
-battle; vanquished, she had recourse to negotiation; then again tried
-the fortune of war, until victory finally decided against her, and
-she was crushed under the weight of the French eagles. Patient and
-laborious German nation, never didst thou despair of thy cause!
-
-Pozzo di Borgo remained at Vienna during the whole campaign of 1809,
-and when peace was again imposed, Buonaparte did not forget him. He had
-taken an active part in all the diplomatic proceedings of Austria and
-Russia, and Napoleon was a person who always retained the remembrance
-of his enemies; accordingly, after the peace of Vienna, his first
-step was to demand the banishment of Colonel Pozzo di Borgo from the
-Austrian dominions. Alexander, warmly attached to Napoleon, had the
-weakness to consent, and this gave occasion to the fine and energetic
-letter, in which Colonel Pozzo already prophesied the invasion of
-Russia, and said to the Czar, "Sire, it will not be long before your
-majesty again summons me to your presence." In order to escape the fate
-which awaited him if his enemy of Ajaccio should succeed in seizing his
-person, he took the precaution of retiring to Constantinople, the only
-spot which still afforded him the power of quitting continental Europe
-and seeking refuge in England.
-
-He was now a proscribed man, travelling in Syria, visiting Smyrna
-and Malta, and from Malta proceeding to London, where he arrived in
-October 1810. He was already an agent of some importance, on account
-of the missions upon which he had been employed; and the limited
-intercourse between England and the Continent made her set a value
-upon the information to be obtained from a man of political talent and
-experience, who had just arrived from the principal capitals of Europe.
-In several conferences with Lord Castlereagh, Colonel Pozzo explained
-to him the hopes he still entertained of a continental rising against
-the colossal empire of France: in the midst of all his great qualities,
-Napoleon had still some vulnerable points, and nobody was better
-aware of them than Pozzo di Borgo, because he had studied them through
-the medium of his resentment. Who could be so well acquainted as he
-with that Buonaparte, whom he had had such opportunities of observing
-in the closest manner, with his infirmities, his fits of anger, his
-weaknesses, and his ambition?
-
-At last the terrible war of 1812 broke out, and the French armies
-passed the Niemen. Russia was invaded; the battles of Moscowa and the
-Mojaisk drove back the armies of Alexander towards the sacred city
-of Moscow, and the ancient capital was reduced to ashes. During the
-whole of this campaign Pozzo di Borgo remained in London, and his
-influence was of service in promoting the union between Alexander
-and the English cabinet; he did not join the army of the Czar,
-because a revolution had taken place in the ideas of the cabinet of
-St. Petersburg. The fact was, that when Alexander found his finest
-provinces invaded, and the murderous war which was desolating his
-territory, he summoned to his assistance the old Russian spirit and
-the ancient traditions of the country; the banner of St. Nicholas
-was unfurled, the churches resounded with prayers and calls to arms
-against the invader, and the Czar placed himself at the head of the
-army: but this popular appeal had precisely the effect of rousing the
-national spirit against foreigners. Ever since the time of Peter the
-Great, the ideas of civilisation had favoured in Russia the influence
-of the Italians, the Germans, and the French, who filled many important
-military situations, and were raised to the first dignities of the
-state; and the old Russian families naturally entertained a jealous
-feeling regarding this influence. This colony of courtiers offended
-their pride, and interfered with their interests; therefore, when
-Alexander had occasion to invoke the shades of his country at the foot
-of the Kremlin, and to rouse the devotion of the Muscovite nobility,
-who lived among their serfs in the central provinces, he was obliged
-to sacrifice the strangers to their prejudices. Pozzo di Borgo was not
-recalled till the close of the campaign, when the impulse had ceased
-to be entirely Russian, but had become more eccentric and inclined
-towards Poland and Prussia, and he returned through Sweden just at the
-time when Bernadotte was becoming more nearly connected with England,
-and, without however openly committing himself, had begun to lend a
-favourable ear to the overtures of the court of London. The Russian
-councillor was commissioned to encourage the inclination of Bernadotte,
-and to strive to forward a decision which would afford his sovereign a
-new opportunity of taking vengeance for the invasion of his country by
-the Emperor of the French. This was the first beginning of his intimacy
-with the Crown Prince of Sweden.
-
-The Emperor Alexander received Pozzo di Borgo at Kalisch, after a
-separation of five years. They had parted immediately after the
-interview of Tilsit, which had so greatly reconciled the Czar to the
-politics of Napoleon. Now, how different was the situation of affairs!
-Alexander had seen his empire invaded by his ancient ally, his cities
-in flames; and, according to the excited ideas of Alexander, it was
-the sainted spirits of the ancient Russians who had raised the stormy
-tempests, and engulfed the immense army of Napoleon in the icy floods
-of the Beresina. The language of Alexander to Pozzo di Borgo reminded
-him of his sagacious prophecies, and the colonel made great efforts
-to win him back to simple and positive plans against the power of
-Napoleon; for having been one of the patriots of 1789, Colonel Pozzo
-perfectly understood the importance of the conspiracy of Mallet,
-and of the discontent that was beginning to pervade France. He was
-opposed to all species of compromise, and his view of the case was
-to strive to effect a separation between the interests of France and
-her leader. Whilst Alexander, still prepossessed with the idea of the
-stupendous power of Napoleon, hesitated to plunge into the perils of a
-distant campaign, Pozzo di Borgo advised him to induce Prussia to take
-advantage of the secret societies, which proudly raised their heads at
-the cry of _Germania_ or _Teutonia_, and to assemble all Buonaparte's
-rivals in glory under their banners, so as to occasion confusion and
-disorder in his preparations for war.
-
-A threefold negotiation was now opened; the first with Moreau, whom
-they were desirous of drawing into France, to rouse the Republican
-party by the influence of his name; the second with Eugène and Murat,
-between whom they wanted to divide the kingdom of Italy; the third
-and last with Bernadotte, who was to join with the Swedish troops
-and effect a division in the French army. Pozzo di Borgo was charged
-with this last mission, furnished with full powers from the Emperor
-Alexander, while the Russians were advancing into Saxony. Without
-clearly explaining the views of the alliance with regard to France, or
-on the distinctive and positive results of the war, he was directed to
-suggest, in his conversations with the crown prince, all the possible
-events which might encourage the emulation of the old companions of
-the Emperor Napoleon; and he engaged, in the name of the Czar, to
-acknowledge Bernadotte as Crown Prince, and eventually, according to
-the order of succession, as King of Sweden: in the same manner he
-had promised to Moreau the presidency of a republic, if it should
-arise from the order of affairs, or from a popular anti-Buonapartist
-movement in Paris. One ought to have heard the ambassador himself
-recount all the trouble and anxiety he experienced during this
-negociation; the vacillations of the Crown Prince, his ill-humours
-and discontent. Still he hesitated. At last, when the Swedish army
-was embarking at Karlscrona and landing at Stralsund, the artillery
-of Lutzen and Bautzen were heard in thunders through the whole of
-Germany. These brilliant victories had astonished the Crown Prince,
-and the Russian army was in full retreat through Upper Silesia. Still,
-though his troops were already assembled, he did not dare to come to
-a final decision; he could not forget the star of his former master,
-the remembrance of his victorious eagles, the irresistible influence
-of his glory; the Swedes, therefore, halted at Stralsund, and awaited
-the course of events. Bernadotte was a powerful ally; not only did he
-bring into the field 20,000 brave Swedes, but also his name, like that
-of Moreau, might be the means of sowing dissension and uneasiness in
-the French army, if the invasion were to take place; when, therefore,
-in the interval afforded by the armistice of Neumark, Colonel Pozzo
-observed the hesitation he still exhibited, he hastened to Stralsund,
-by the desire of Alexander, to endeavour to persuade him to march at
-once. He had, however, the greatest difficulty in inducing him to
-join the military congress of Trachenburg, where the plans were laid
-for the campaign against Napoleon, and it was necessary he should
-exhibit, at the same time, firmness with Bernadotte and forbearance
-towards Sir Charles Stewart, afterwards Lord Londonderry, a young and
-rather presumptuous officer, who was commissioner from England, and
-was always ready to give offence to an old soldier like Bernadotte.
-His efforts were crowned with success; the Crown Prince had already
-had an interview with Moreau, and Pozzo di Borgo afterwards held
-a confidential conversation with both those personal enemies of
-Napoleon, in which they reciprocally exchanged their hopes, their
-present hatred, and old resentments, Pozzo against the adversary of
-Paoli, Moreau against the Consul, and Bernadotte against the Emperor.
-The plan adopted by the allied powers at the military congress of
-Trachenburg was very simple. Colonel Pozzo di Borgo maintained that
-they ought to march at once upon Paris, the central point of Napoleon's
-strength or weakness, where the question would speedily be settled; and
-this was the opinion entertained by all those military men who mingled
-any political ideas of the decline of Buonaparte's power and of his
-personal character with the question of war. Besides, in the opinion of
-the Russian envoy, Buonaparte and France were not synonymous terms; and
-it was to save France and her liberty that he so closely pursued the
-Emperor.
-
-At this time the congress of Prague was assembled, which was in reality
-nothing more than an armistice required by all the forces. Metternich
-had assumed for Austria a position of armed mediation, being the
-commencement of a new political system, a wary and provident plan,
-which, in her state of relative weakness and isolation, gave her a
-predominant influence over cabinets far more powerful than her own.
-All the negotiations of this congress tended to one point only; the
-endeavour to detach Austria from this mediatorial system, and to induce
-her to decide in favour of one side or the other,--either for the
-coalition, or for France. In the army of Napoleon, as well as among
-the allies, a strong desire for peace existed, with this difference,
-that the victorious soldiers of the Emperor were thoroughly weary of
-war; for them the illusions of conquest had no longer any charms, and
-their generals, in the midst of the wonderful success that had crowned
-their arms, regretted the life of luxury and enjoyment they had been
-accustomed to lead in Paris. The sons of Germany, ardent in their
-desire for liberty, flocked to the ranks of the allied armies, under
-the command of old Blucher, whose mind was also full of enthusiasm
-for the German unity; while the general officers of the French army
-indulged in dreams of their hotels, in the Chaussée d'Antin, or the Rue
-de Bourbon, or their delightful retreats at Malmaison and Grosbois,
-while their brothers-in-arms were falling under the enemy's fire,--that
-fire which no longer respected the marshals. An unanimous cry of bitter
-accusation was heard among the staff, "That man will make an end of us
-all!" Exaggerated accounts of disaffection were brought to the Emperor.
-At one time some thousands of conscripts were said to have mutilated
-their fingers, in order that they might be sent back to their homes;
-at another they reported the desertion of the brave fellows who had
-cried "Vive l'Empereur!" under the grape-shot of Lutzen and Bautzen.
-The allies were well aware of this decline of military ardour in the
-French camp, and they knew a feeling of weakness and a disposition to
-discord were connected with it. The proposals for peace at Prague never
-were sincere on the part of Russia and Prussia, and the Emperor was
-thoroughly deceived in imagining them to be so.
-
-The main object was to prevail upon Austria to declare herself openly;
-and here Napoleon was guilty of many faults. In the situation assumed
-by the cabinet of Vienna, a good deal was naturally exacted, and with
-perfect justice, for upon them depended the strength, and we may almost
-say the success, of the coalition. In offering herself as a mediator,
-Austria was desirous of regaining the position she had lost during the
-struggle with Napoleon, and the law was now in her own hands, for she
-could throw the weight of 300,000 men into either scale. Napoleon
-committed the great oversight of not acceding to the offers of the
-cabinet of Vienna: he went farther still; he deeply offended the
-minister who directed the fates of that cabinet--Prince Metternich, a
-man of extraordinary ability and consideration, and whose inclinations
-had previously tended towards France. I have elsewhere related the
-stormy and imprudent scene which broke up the conference between
-Buonaparte and the Austrian minister.[19]
-
- [19] _Vide_ the article "Metternich."
-
-The allied sovereigns awaited the decision of the cabinet of Vienna
-with indescribable anxiety. It was eleven o'clock at night, and they
-were all assembled in a barn; the ministers, Count Nesselrode, Pozzo di
-Borgo, and Hardenburg, in the lower apartment; the Emperor Alexander
-and the King of Prussia on the first floor: the rain descended in
-torrents, and it was one of those stormy nights which add even to the
-horrors of war, when all at once a courier arrived, bearing a letter
-for Count Nesselrode, which contained merely these words,--"Austria
-has decided, and four armies will be at the disposal of the Alliance."
-Imagination may picture the shouts of joy, the transports of the
-coalition, on thus receiving the support of 300,000 men, who were to
-join the rest of the army by the mountains of Bohemia. The chances of
-war were now clearly against Napoleon; and General Pozzo di Borgo,
-for he had lately been raised to the rank of major-general, was
-again despatched, in the character of commissioner, from the Emperor
-Alexander to the Crown Prince of Sweden, who at this time covered
-Berlin at the head of an army, composed of 40,000 Prussians, 30,000
-Russians, and 20,000 Swedes.
-
-The most glorious events recorded in the military history of France
-have nothing that can bear a comparison with the admirable defence
-of Dresden by Napoleon, when all the armies of the coalition went
-successively to try their strength under its walls. They were repulsed
-with considerable loss, and Moreau was mortally wounded on the field of
-battle; but this admirable manœuvre of concentration was followed
-by a very great fault--the division of the main body of his army, one
-portion being intrusted to General Vandamme, the other to some marshals
-upon whose deeds the star of Napoleon's fortune did not shine. At Gross
-Beeren, Bernadotte broke the brilliant line of the French, at the same
-time that the corps of Vandamme was cut to pieces or taken prisoner by
-the coalesced enemy, and the Emperor was obliged to retreat beyond the
-Elbe. I cast a veil over the mournful catastrophe of Leipsic, where so
-many faults were committed, and so much want of foresight exhibited,
-both on the part of Napoleon, and also of those who were charged with
-the execution of his orders; the sad disorder, the horrible confusion
-that prevailed, when the soldiers were decimated at once by sickness in
-the hospital, the steel of the enemy, and the hordes of peasants raised
-by Blucher along his path, and which swallowed up the French army,
-already perishing with hunger, without guns, and barefooted, in the
-midst of the cold rains of October.
-
-The coalition was now victorious; its advanced guard had reached the
-banks of the Rhine. Still they could not refrain from a degree of
-secret terror as they approached the French territory, which was still
-pervaded by the presiding genius of Napoleon. The army of Bernadotte
-was separated from the allies to march against Holstein, invade
-Denmark, and prepare a rising in Holland; and General Pozzo di Borgo
-quitted him to proceed on a mission to Frankfort, to concert military
-operations with the allies. They had there a better opportunity of
-judging of the state of public feeling in France, and were able to
-study the progress that had been made by the different opinions and
-parties against the imperial government. The Emperor's administration
-had surpassed itself; the Senate had voted troops upon troops, the
-levies proceeded with extraordinary energy, and they sought by every
-means, pamphlets, songs, operas--in short, nothing was neglected to
-re-awaken the cry of national independence in the breasts of the French
-nation. But though from the powerful organisation of the empire every
-thing appeared clear on the surface, its stability went no deeper;
-there was an under-current of murmurs, complete dissatisfaction, and
-weariness of mind; commerce was annihilated, leaving the unemployed
-workmen no resource but a musket, and no choice but of seeking bread
-or death with the army. Secret agitations began to be whispered about
-every where; the legislative body had separated itself from Napoleon by
-a protest, executed under the influence of discontent, and of MM. Lainé
-and Reynouard, and it had in consequence been dissolved; the council
-of the regency of Maria Louisa was composed of timid, hesitating
-men; some, like Talleyrand, ready to abandon a falling cause; the
-people called for a termination of this state of affairs, and gloomy,
-foreboding clouds hung on the brow of Napoleon.
-
-Existing circumstances certainly offered a favourable opportunity for
-invading the imperial territory; but were the allies well agreed upon
-the end they proposed to themselves? Were they all actuated by the
-same interests? Although Austria had made an effort to shake off the
-enormous power of Napoleon, would she be willing to ruin the son-in-law
-of her own emperor, Francis II., especially when the advantages
-resulting from it would fall principally to the share of Russia and
-Prussia, whose power had been already excessively augmented by the late
-events? Having regained the territories of which Napoleon had formerly
-deprived her, why should she join in the invasion of France, and aim a
-last blow at a nation so necessary to the balance of power in Europe?
-Even England, though the determined enemy of Buonaparte, could not
-fail to entertain some degree of uneasiness in observing the immense
-increase of the Russian influence, and the ministers were assailed
-with incessant questions as to the object and probable termination of
-the war. All these circumstances caused a dread that the coalition was
-ready to fall to pieces at the very moment its great object had been
-attained. This state of affairs soon became evident to the diplomatic
-chiefs assembled at the conference of Frankfort, and Pozzo di Borgo was
-despatched by the three sovereigns on a mission to the Prince Regent to
-request the presence of Lord Castlereagh, the English prime minister,
-at head-quarters, in order to strengthen the bands of the coalition and
-determine its object. The general lost no time in accomplishing his
-voyage, and arrived in London in the beginning of January 1814, while
-parliament was sitting, and just at the time when Lord Castlereagh had
-been obliged to enter into an explanation in answer to the pressing
-requisitions of the Whigs. He was the bearer of an autograph letter to
-the Prince Regent from the allied sovereigns, by which they engaged
-to follow the most moderate measures, and as far as possible to keep
-the balance of power in Europe in view, so as to remove any fears on
-the part of England. It was just six years since Pozzo di Borgo, as
-a proscribed person, had last visited that country, and under what
-different auspices he now returned to it! He came as the organ of
-the triumphant coalition, and his reception was distinguished by all
-the magnificence and joy inspired by the late victories. With what
-cordiality Lord Wellesley pressed his hand! "I believe, my dear Pozzo,"
-said the marquess, "you and I are the two men who most earnestly
-desire the fall of Buonaparte." Lord Castlereagh had already begun to
-entertain some thoughts of the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty,
-and he communicated his idea to General Pozzo di Borgo, who replied,
-"You are well aware, my lord, that we must never present any but a
-perfectly simple idea to the sovereigns; complicated matters do not
-take hold of their minds. Let us first overturn Buonaparte,--this is
-a thing we shall easily make the Emperor of Russia and the King of
-Prussia understand,--and then afterwards, when the coast is clear,
-we can return to examine the second difficulty." "Very well," said
-Lord Castlereagh, "whom do you wish us to send to the Continent?" "If
-Mr. Pitt were alive," replied the general, "I would tell him to hold
-himself in readiness; it is sufficient to make you understand that we
-are most anxious to see you in person on the Rhine, that the question
-may not get perplexed and confused."
-
-It was with these opinions that Pozzo di Borgo visited the French
-princes, especially the Comte d'Artois. His royal highness was anxious
-to appear at head-quarters, and blend the idea of a restoration with
-the plan of the campaign of the allies, but General Pozzo strongly
-opposed his design. "Monseigneur," said he, "you are well aware of
-my devotion to your person and to your interests, but do not come to
-spoil our game; we still have great difficulties to overcome effecting
-the fall of Napoleon, when that point is gained it will be necessary
-to turn to something else, and your turn and your name will naturally
-occur."
-
-It was a matter of some delicacy to obtain the departure of Lord
-Castlereagh and the full and entire adhesion of England to the
-coalition; they were obliged to work at it a long while with the
-Prince Regent and some influential members of parliament; at last, at
-a dinner given by Lady Castlereagh, the English minister, on rising
-from table, said to the emperor's messenger, "Well, my dear Pozzo, it
-is decided that I am to accompany you; the Prince Regent has given me
-an autograph letter for the sovereigns, and we shall act in concert and
-good fellowship with you." The two diplomatists embraced each other
-with delight, two days afterwards they embarked for the Continent, and
-in three weeks rejoined the sovereigns at Baden.
-
-Lord Castlereagh's arrival at head-quarters strengthened the unity of
-the alliance and enabled them to form some resolutions for the general
-benefit, and also to decide upon the plan of the political campaign
-about to be commenced against Buonaparte. England had never recognised
-the Emperor of the French, and in all the acts of parliament, as well
-as those of the cabinet, he had no other designation than that of _the
-common enemy_, or _the head of the government_, a circumstance which
-facilitated Pozzo di Borgo's labours with Lord Castlereagh towards
-gaining the object he had in view, viz., the complete overthrow of
-Napoleon. The English minister, who was armed with full powers, laid
-down as the fundamental principle of all their diplomatic transactions,
-that France, although necessary to the balance of power in Europe,
-must be reduced within her ancient territorial limits, a principle
-which almost inevitably involved the restoration of the ancient
-dynasty. This, however, was only mentioned in the acts, both public
-and secret, of the congress, as a _possibility_ reserved for a further
-consideration of the French question.
-
-One of the most important principles laid down in the political plan
-of the alliance was the separation of the question concerning Napoleon
-from those regarding the interests of France. This line of conduct was
-recommended by Bernadotte, Pozzo di Borgo, and the patriot party, who
-were the enemies of the emperor, and it was formally announced in the
-public acts of Frankfort and the proclamations of all the allied troops
-who crossed the Rhine. Their great object was to weaken the common
-enemy, at the same time that they promised France that her ancient
-territory should remain untouched, and hinted at the possibility of
-establishing a constitution independent of the emperor. By adopting
-this plan they summoned all disaffected persons to the assistance of
-the coalition; and, without entering into engagements with any one
-party, they offered to _all_ the hope of bringing their pretensions and
-wishes to a favourable issue; they even contrived to conciliate the
-partisans of a republican form of government as well as the advocates
-of the regency of Maria Louisa.
-
-Pozzo di Borgo continued attached to the person of the Emperor
-Alexander during the whole of the operations of 1814, that glorious
-but melancholy campaign where the military genius of Napoleon shone
-with so brilliant a lustre--a bright ray emanating from that star which
-appeared but for a fleeting moment, soon to grow dim and set for ever!
-During the negotiations at Chatillon, General Pozzo urged the rejection
-of all the propositions of the French emperor, and also that the time
-and circumstances granted by the coalition to him whose attempts had so
-often been crowned with victory, should have a limit defined with the
-utmost accuracy. "Grant no armistice, but march _en masse_ straight to
-Paris!" Such was the advice of Pozzo di Borgo, to whom some overtures
-had already been made by Talleybrand and the disaffected party in the
-capital. Had the preliminaries of peace been accepted, a treaty might
-possibly have been entered into at Chatillon with Napoleon and Maria
-Louisa; but how would it have been possible for the emperor to submit
-to the ancient limits of France, without exposing himself to inevitable
-ruin in the interior of his kingdom? M. de Caulaincourt, it is true,
-received orders to accede to the proposed conditions, but it was then
-too late. It would, however, have been impossible for Napoleon to have
-continued peaceably on the throne, even had pacific terms been granted
-him, under existing circumstances; for his government would have
-been overturned by an internal revolution. How could the victorious
-emperor, who had given laws to the world, now in his turn submit to
-receive laws from the whole of Europe combined against him? And,
-supposing he had returned to Paris with the humiliating treaties which
-deprived France of all her conquests and reduced her within the narrow
-limits she formerly occupied, would not the loss of his throne have
-been, sooner or later, the inevitable consequence of such a change of
-circumstances? Would not discontent have reared its head at every step
-he took? Or would his government still have retained sufficient power
-and influence to secure him the possession of absolute dominion? As
-soon as peace had been proclaimed, the adverse parties would have burst
-forth with violence, and Napoleon have been overcome by a republican
-insurrection. They would have said to the emperor, "What have you done
-with the conquests of the republic and with the legions it bequeathed
-to you?" And, to escape from the tumult of public opinion, the emperor
-would have been forced again to engage in some military enterprise.
-"The peace you grant to Napoleon," said Pozzo di Borgo, "will merely
-be giving him an opportunity of recruiting his strength, and in less
-than a year you will find him again engaged in an attack upon your
-territories; with the spirit of a gambler, he will stake his last crown
-upon his last card."
-
-For the sake of giving a powerful unity to the alliance, the sovereigns
-signed the famous treaty of Chaumont, which was a general coalition of
-the whole of Europe against the common enemy; they declared, in the
-first place, that they would not separate until they had attained the
-objects they proposed to themselves, which were a general peace and the
-establishment of independence and of the rights of all the nations of
-Europe. In addition to this, it was agreed that each power was to keep
-up a standing army of 150,000 men besides those in garrison; England
-undertook to furnish immense subsidies; and they engaged mutually to
-support each other with a formidable armed contingent, in case any
-of the governments should be threatened. The campaign then proceeded
-with fresh vigour, and the advance upon Paris produced all the effect
-anticipated by the sovereigns. I will not describe the sad events that
-succeeded; they are, alas! but too well known. General Pozzo di Borgo
-was in the suite of the Emperor Alexander when he entered the city, and
-from that time forth he assumed the part of a mediator between France
-and the allies.
-
-We must take a retrospect of that melancholy period of our disasters
-in order to form a reasonable judgment of the events about to be
-accomplished. The hearts of the whole nation were filled with weariness
-to a most painful degree. Some few soldiers might, perhaps, have been
-ready to range themselves around the emperor and defend his eagles
-which, though now abased, had so often led them to victory; but the
-great mass of the population was no longer desirous of war; a feeling
-of hatred towards Napoleon had gradually arisen among the republican
-party and the Royalists, who were in a state of commotion; while, on
-the other hand, the proclamations of Schwartzenburg, and the promises
-he had made at the time of his entry into Paris, had inspired hopes of
-repose and reasonable liberty. Pozzo di Borgo exerted all his influence
-over the mind of Alexander to lead him towards the liberal system,
-upon which his resolutions appear to have been formed. The whole idea
-of the constitutional charter, and all the plans breathing a spirit of
-liberty, were suggested at the meetings in Talleyrand's house, where
-the patriots used to assemble to give vent to their dissatisfaction
-with the conduct of Napoleon. I must here mention a curious
-circumstance relating to the famous proclamation of Schwartzenburg
-which first made open mention of the Bourbons. It was the work of Count
-Pozzo, and Schwartzenburg had not signed it when Alexander said to him
-in a meeting at the head-quarters of Bondy, "My dear prince, you have
-written an admirable proclamation--it is perfect; sign it, you will get
-great credit for it." And the prince, partly through self-love, and
-partly through respect for the Emperor Alexander, affixed his signature
-to the document.[20]
-
- [20] I have seen the rough copy of this proclamation written in
- pencil by Count Pozzo and corrected by Alexander himself.
-
-General Pozzo di Borgo had kept up his acquaintance with all the
-patriots of 1789, whose noble and generous principles of independence
-met with a sympathetic feeling in the breast of Alexander. Napoleon,
-the representative of a powerful and united system of government,
-would only be overcome by the principle of liberty. "Europe," said
-Talleyrand, "was then on the highroad to emancipation; it was with the
-name of Fatherland, with the enthusiasm for free institutions, that
-the people had been excited to rise against him, who was termed by the
-Germans _the oppressor of mankind_." These ideas prevailed, and Count
-Pozzo di Borgo was appointed commissioner from the Emperor Alexander to
-the provisional government.
-
-That government certainly stood in need of the support of the friend of
-Paoli, who pursued with relentless perseverance the last glimmering ray
-of Napoleon's fortune. Some of the marshals had just made an attempt to
-induce the Emperor Alexander to treat with the regency, and, moved by
-the recollection of his ancient friendship, and by the influence which
-the noble countenance of Napoleon exercised over his mind, the Czar
-would, perhaps, have agreed to the proposal, when Pozzo di Borgo was
-despatched in haste by the provisional government to Alexander, to put
-a stop to the treaty, and he worked on the mind of the Czar by means of
-the same considerations he had formerly presented to his view, and of
-which he had acknowledged the justice. "The regency was still Napoleon,
-and France no longer desired his rule; to sign a peace with him was
-merely to expose themselves to a repetition of hostilities; if Europe
-was desirous of rest, they must have done with the imperial system
-altogether." The commissioner spent two hours in this conversation,
-and, by his perseverance, he obtained the important declaration of
-the allied sovereigns, that they would enter into no treaty with the
-emperor or his family. Having gained this point, he returned with
-speed to the provisional government, and gave vent to the picturesque
-expression of his triumph in his communication to Talleyrand. "My dear
-prince," said he, "I certainly cannot be said single-handed to have
-politically killed Buonaparte, but I have cast the last clod of earth
-upon his head."
-
-Thus was played the drama of life between these two men: Pozzo,
-formerly proscribed by Buonaparte, now came in his turn to be present
-at the obsequies of his rival's power! Born within a few months of
-each other, the one had quitted Ajaccio merely with the rank of a
-sub-lieutenant, and had ascended the greatest throne under heaven;
-the other, as an exile, had traversed Europe, to rouse the spirit
-of war and vengeance against his compatriot, and, after unheard-of
-efforts, had at last succeeded in realising the plan which had always
-kept possession of his mind. He had his foot on his enemy's neck, and
-had him banished to the island of Elba, which he had himself twice
-sailed past, pursued by the fortune of his rival. General Pozzo never
-would admit the hypothesis that France and Buonaparte were the same
-thing; and in this respect he was as good a patriot as Moreau, Lannes,
-Bernadotte, Massena, Dessoles, and Gouvion St. Cyr.
-
-As soon as the senate had decided upon the restoration of the ancient
-dynasty, and laid the foundations of the constitution, Pozzo di Borgo
-was commissioned by the sovereigns to go to London, to meet Louis
-XVIII. This was not only an honourable mission of congratulation to
-the new French sovereign; the general's special duty was to explain to
-Louis the real state of public opinion in France, and the necessity
-of adopting the constitutional forms and liberal ideas of a charter,
-to answer the public expectation. He went with all possible speed to
-London, for the provisional government were well aware that the ardent
-royalist party would immediately surround the French king, and it was
-necessary to prevent his being guilty of any imprudence; and this
-they hoped to effect by means of the salutary intervention of Pozzo di
-Borgo, especially as his being the confidential servant of the Emperor
-Alexander would naturally invest him with a considerable degree of
-influence over the mind of Louis XVIII. When the general arrived at
-Calais, he engaged a packet-boat for his sole use, and at the moment of
-his embarkation, an episode occurred, which he often related as a proof
-of the instability of human opinions. He was standing on the sea-shore,
-when a stranger accosted him, and requested a passage in his little
-vessel to enable him to go and meet the king. "Who are you?" asked
-Pozzo di Borgo. "I am the Duc de la Rochefoucauld Liancourt," replied
-the stranger; "and I am going to the king to resume my ancient office."
-One may imagine the amazement of the ambassador; the Duc de Liancourt
-had not only deeply insulted the Comte de Provence at the Constituent
-Assembly, but he had afterwards carried his offence still farther, by
-sending back to him, from the United States, the ribbon of his orders,
-as a mark of his contempt for what he called the _crotchets_ of the old
-school: Louis XVIII. could not forget this contemptuous bearing in a
-man of noble birth.
-
-The ambassador did not refuse a passage to the noble duke; and it was a
-most curious circumstance that the first step taken by M. de Liancourt
-when they reached the royal yacht in which Louis had embarked, was
-to adorn himself with the blue ribbon he had formerly sent back to
-the king during his sojourn in the land of equality and liberty. It
-is impossible to describe the despair of the duke when he found he
-could not be received by Louis XVIII., while Count Pozzo was welcomed
-in the warmest manner, and the king expressed himself in the most
-flattering language, with tears in his eyes. The ambassador from the
-allies explained the orders he had received. "Though the constitution
-proclaimed by the senate might have fallen into contempt, it was no
-reason for abandoning the principles of liberty upon which it was
-founded." Pozzo di Borgo remained with the king during his voyage,
-and assisted him in preparing the declaration issued at St. Ouen,
-containing the plan of such a representative system as the liberal
-party were desirous of establishing in France. Let us imagine that
-country passing from the military rule of Napoleon into constitutional
-principles, finding herself free, on emerging from the firm, but
-despotic government of the emperor, had she not already gained an
-immense step in securing the advantages of a public representation? The
-treaty of Paris was based on the diplomatic scheme determined upon at
-Chaumont and Chatillon: it restrained France within her ancient limits,
-and placed her under the government of the ancient dynasty, thus
-offering a pledge of peace and the maintenance of order, so necessary
-to the tranquillity of Europe.
-
-General Pozzo di Borgo remained in Paris as Russian ambassador to the
-new French government, until the meeting of the Congress of Vienna,
-where all the diplomatic chiefs were summoned to attend. I will not
-recount the events of that period, having related them in a work
-especially devoted to the history of those times;[21] I will only
-observe, that had they listened at Vienna to the warnings, derived
-from the former experience of the friend of Paoli, France would never
-have suffered the misfortunes inflicted by the reign of the Hundred
-Days. The _corps diplomatique_ received intelligence that Napoleon was
-seeking the opportunity of returning from exile, and reappearing in
-Europe, and General Pozzo, who well knew the energy of his countryman,
-proposed removing him to a more secure spot,--as, for example, one
-of the islands of the African Ocean, from whence escape would be
-impossible, so as to prevent any risk of his again throwing the whole
-of Europe into a state of danger and revolution.
-
- [21] "Histoire de la Restauration."
-
-At Vienna, a coldness took place for the second time between Alexander
-and his confidential _employé_, occasioned by the difference of their
-opinions on the question of Poland. The Czar had taken it into his
-head that Poland must be formed into a vast kingdom, separated by its
-constitution from Russia, and even comprehending its ancient provinces
-within its boundaries, and Pozzo di Borgo was strongly opposed to the
-whole scheme: he foretold the consequences of such a proceeding in an
-exceedingly well-written memorial, full of sound judgment, and evincing
-a deep and extensive consideration of the subject. "The creation of
-such a kingdom," said he, "would only be encouraging the spirit of
-rebellion, and this would eventually involve the nobility and people
-of Poland in a deeper slavery; for if an insurrection were to take
-place, it would be necessary to repress it with severity."[22] Alas,
-he spoke but too truly! What has been the ruin of Poland, and caused
-the dispersion of her generous nobility? Was it not the insane project
-of an impossible revolution? The Emperor Alexander withdrew for a
-short time his confidence from General Pozzo, to place it in Count
-Capo d'Istria, a man of rather a dreamy and visionary cast of mind,
-and whose opinion exactly coincided with his own, concerning the
-emancipation of Greece and Poland, under the _suzeraineté_ of the Czar.
-
- [22] This memorial was found again some years afterwards at Warsaw.
- The Emperor Nicholas wrote to Pozzo di Borgo in 1830, "How rightly
- you foresaw what would happen! You would have saved us much
- difficulty and embarrassment."
-
-But all these occurrences were suddenly interrupted by the landing of
-Napoleon in the gulf of Juan. It was like the fall of a thunderbolt.
-Pozzo di Borgo, however, received the intelligence without any
-appearance of surprise; and when the _corps diplomatique_ sought to
-remove the fears that had been excited as to the probability of war, he
-replied, "I well know Buonaparte; since he has landed, he will proceed
-to Paris, and if so, there must be no delay, no attempt at pacific
-measures; Europe should march at once against the common enemy." The
-Emperor Alexander sent for Pozzo di Borgo, to whom he restored his
-perfect confidence, and then despatched him to Ghent to Louis XVIII.,
-charged with a military mission to the Anglo-Prussian army of the
-Low Countries. A general cry for war now arose at Vienna, and the
-allied powers made preparations for a fresh campaign, in spite of all
-the endeavours of Napoleon to separate Austria and Russia from the
-coalition. With this view, it is well known that he transmitted to
-Alexander a copy of the secret treaty concluded in March 1814, between
-England, France, and Austria, against Russia, relative to the Polish
-question; and from this point dates the extreme antipathy of Alexander
-for Talleyrand--an antipathy which more than once stood in the way of
-diplomatic transactions after the second invasion of France.
-
-General Pozzo arrived in Belgium, now the inevitable theatre of war,
-as Russian commissary to the Anglo-Prussian army, which formed the
-advanced guard of the coalition, at the very moment Napoleon made his
-appearance on the frontier. The Duke of Wellington was informed of the
-sudden arrival of his terrible adversary, in the midst of a brilliant
-ball, under the thousand lustres of the palace of Laeken: the English
-troops were assembled in all haste, and a courier was despatched to
-Bulow, to desire him to quicken his march, and join the rest of the
-army. The Prussians, under Blucher, received a check at Ligny, and the
-English took up their position at Mont St. Jean. Pozzo di Borgo arrived
-there in a state of considerable anxiety. "How long do you think you
-can hold out?" said he. "I do not put much faith in the Belgians,"
-replied the Duke of Wellington; "but I have a dozen British regiments
-with me, and I will engage to maintain my ground all day; but Bulow
-must come to my assistance before five o'clock in the evening." In
-the middle of the battle a note arrived from Bulow, promising his
-arrival in less than three hours; the news flew along the ranks, and
-the English army, feebly supported by the Belgians, resisted with an
-obstinate courage, which gained them the victory. At the funereal
-battle of Waterloo, Count Pozzo di Borgo received rather a serious
-wound.
-
-Napoleon's last battle-field was fought and lost! still Count Pozzo
-felt uneasy, and with reason, for the army of Alexander had taken no
-part in these events, indeed it had scarcely reached Germany; and was
-it not probable that the Duke of Wellington and Blucher, profiting by
-their successes, might take upon themselves to decide alone upon the
-fate of France? Pozzo di Borgo sent for a young Russian officer serving
-in the Prussian army, and said to him, "Spare not your horses, but
-in forty-eight hours let the czar be informed of this victory! Your
-fortune awaits you at the end of your journey." Though suffering from
-his wound, the diplomatist followed the Duke of Wellington closely
-to Paris: he resumed his office of ambassador to Louis XVIII., but
-without the same favourable circumstances in regard to credit, as he
-had enjoyed in 1814. As he had foreseen, the occupation of Paris by the
-English and Prussian generals had rendered them all powerful there,
-the Fouché-Talleyrand ministry was almost entirely formed by the Duke
-of Wellington, and both those political characters were known to be
-devoted to England. Russia thus played but a secondary part, which it
-was very desirable should be augmented; but the arrival of the Emperor
-Alexander at the head of 230,000 bayonets soon changed the face of
-affairs.
-
-Talleyrand had evidence of this from the very first steps taken
-towards the preliminaries of peace; the Czar had an old grudge
-against the French plenipotentiary at Vienna, and he would not hear
-of any negotiation carried on by him; still Alexander's mediation was
-indispensable to our interests, in the discussions preparatory to
-a treaty of peace. England, Prussia, and Germany, exacted the most
-exorbitant conditions, being apparently desirous of making the most
-of their victory, and vieing with each other in the pillage of our
-unfortunate country. Lord Castlereagh's first minutes demanded the
-cession of a chain of fortresses along the Belgic frontier from Calais
-to Maubeuge; while the Prussians and Germans claimed Alsace and part
-of Lorraine; who but the Czar could defend us from the greediness of
-our conquerors? Talleyrand tried to appease Alexander by promising a
-high political situation to his ambassador; he offered Pozzo di Borgo
-the ministry of the interior, combined with that of the police, now
-vacant by the resignation of Fouché, or any other appointment he might
-prefer; but Count Pozzo declined his offers, declaring he could only be
-useful to France as an intermediate agent between the two governments;
-a Frenchman in his affections, and a Russian in his position and duty,
-he would appear as a type of alliance between the two cabinets and
-the two nations. Talleyrand's plans fell to the ground, owing to the
-invincible objections of the Emperor Alexander, who persisted in his
-desire of seeing the ministry for foreign affairs intrusted to a man of
-his choice, and in whom he could place confidence; and he recommended
-the appointment of the Duc de Richelieu, designating him as the best
-of Frenchmen, and the most upright of men: Talleyrand was, therefore,
-obliged to give way; he gave in his resignation to Louis XVIII., who
-intrusted the Duc de Richelieu with the formation of another cabinet.
-
-From this moment the influence of Russia on public affairs became
-clearly defined. The Czar placed himself as the intermediary in all
-questions regarding territory, and he had, in point of fact, some
-object in wishing to uphold the active power of France in the south
-of Europe, in order that he might hereafter meet with an ally and
-supporter there. Pozzo di Borgo's influence increased with that of
-his emperor, and he always exercised it in a kind and favourable
-manner towards France. Let us take a retrospective glance of that most
-disastrous period, when the country, invaded by 800,000 foreigners,
-was completely crushed under the burden of military contributions; but
-Alexander threw the weight of his opinion and his power into the scale,
-as opposed to the demands of the English, Prussians, and Germans, and
-the question of the cession of Alsace, Lorraine, and a great part of
-the northern provinces, was at an end.
-
-In the secret conferences of the plenipotentiaries, the Russian
-minister pressed the necessity of not exercising too much severity in
-the conditions exacted from France and the new dynasty; because, when
-dishonour, weakness, or degradation, are imposed upon a king or a
-nation, a natural reaction takes place against a yoke too oppressive
-to be borne. The treaty of Paris, the result of these conferences, was
-no doubt a very hard measure; when the Duc de Richelieu signed it,
-the trembling of his hand shewed the pain and grief he endured, and
-he wrote a most noble letter, which is still extant, deploring this
-cruel necessity; still, compared with the conditions imposed by the
-Anglo-Prussians, a great step had been gained. France underwent no
-partition; though she lost some posts on the frontier, though she was
-obliged to submit to a military occupation, though a contribution of
-seven hundred millions[23] of francs was levied, at least she could
-look forward to a limit, however distant, to the evils of war, she
-neither lost Lorraine nor Alsace, she still was a great nation.
-
- [23] About twenty-eight millions sterling.
-
-When the Emperor Alexander quitted Paris, he invested Pozzo di Borgo
-with full power to uphold the government of Louis XVIII., to watch his
-first proceedings and prevent his first faults. A powerful royalist
-reaction had taken place; the greater part of the Chamber of 1815 had
-decided in favour of a system of unbounded energy, in which parties,
-when left to themselves, are always apt to indulge in the first joy of
-victory. This chamber was strongly opposed to the Richelieu ministry,
-and made political order of impossible attainment, though it was the
-only means of realising the loans, and, consequently, of fulfilling the
-terms imposed by the army of occupation. Under existing circumstances,
-moderation was not merely a natural impulse of elevated minds, it
-was an actual law of necessity; besides which, reactions do not
-create real resources, they only disturb people's minds, and destroy
-public prosperity. Pozzo di Borgo upheld the Duc de Richelieu in the
-plan common to both, of endeavouring to arrest the ultra-royalist
-movement, which threw obstacles in the way of the fulfilment of their
-engagements towards the allies; and the _ordonnance_ of the 5th of
-September altered the course of ideas, and political principles of
-the Restoration. The despatches of Pozzo di Borgo had prepared the
-Emperor Alexander for this change, being altogether in favour of the
-moderate royalist system, which the duke was desirous of following;
-"It was necessary," said he, "to put a stop to the reaction of 1815;"
-and the emperor perfectly agreed with him in opinion. The Russian
-minister considered this _ordonnance_ as an act evincing the royal
-will, likely to be favourably received in Europe, and thus to advance
-the deliverance of the country from foreign occupation; the event
-shewed he was not mistaken, for Louis soon received letters from the
-Czar, congratulating him upon the act of firmness which enabled his
-government to pursue the path of salutary moderation.
-
-The Russian influence continued to increase. The military occupation
-was still in force, and France, which had to arrange pecuniary
-conventions resulting from various treaties, was exposed to very severe
-trials: war was succeeded by famine, famine by internal disorders, and
-simultaneous revolts. In his despatches to the emperor, Pozzo di Borgo
-endeavoured to convince him of the necessity of alleviating the burden
-of the military contributions, unless they wished to drive to despair
-a nation which they might find it difficult to bring into entire
-subjection. I never met with a collection of documents better reasoned,
-or more thoroughly imbued with the desire of putting an end to the
-military occupation of the country; perhaps his strong and patriotic
-anxiety on that head often made him form too severe a judgment of the
-royalist party.
-
-The influence of the Russian ambassador was favourable to all
-the negotiations of the French government, and at the Congress
-of Aix-la-Chapelle it assumed the character of a most generous
-intervention. Before starting for the congress he had received full
-authority from his sovereign to endeavour to prevail upon the Duke of
-Wellington to declare himself arbiter and mediator in the delicate
-question regarding the debts claimed by foreigners from the French
-government. These liabilities exceeded all bounds; and Pozzo di
-Borgo, appealing to the generosity and military honour of the Duke of
-Wellington, persuaded him to give over the military occupation which
-injured and tormented France, and to make an end of these liquidations,
-which appeared to have neither limit nor probable termination. Though
-the Duke of Wellington had an interest in keeping up a command which
-invested him with such vast authority in France, he consented to
-become the arbiter of the different interests; and affairs were thus
-arranged beforehand, that no obstacle might arise to interfere with the
-resolutions already formed, and which were to be finally settled at the
-Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle.
-
-The result of that congress was the liberation of France, the credit
-and trouble attending which are due to the Duc de Richelieu; but the
-exertions of Pozzo di Borgo also contributed greatly to calm the fears
-of Alexander, which had been excited by the liberal tendency at that
-time so vehement in Europe.
-
-The disposition of the Czar always evinced a greater degree of warmth
-and generosity than of deep reflection; a bias had been given by
-education, and he was also surrounded by timid people, constantly
-ready to be alarmed at the posture of affairs, and more especially
-uneasy at the excited state of the German universities. During his
-brief stay in Paris, after the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle, Alexander
-had entered into an explanation on this subject with the French king.
-According to his ideas, the principal danger in Europe at that time
-arose from Jacobinism, and this was an evil above all others to be
-avoided; it was a disorder of a new species, against which the Holy
-Alliance would have some difficulty in acting so as to preserve the
-world from its contagion. The instructions left with Pozzo di Borgo
-bore the stamp of the same opinions; and what must have been the
-disappointment of the emperor, when, upon his arrival at Warsaw, he
-received intelligence that the Richelieu ministry was dissolved, and
-that a political system more decidedly liberal had been adopted by
-France! The Russian ambassador felt no repugnance for General Dessole,
-and Marshal Gouvion St. Cyr, who formed part of this administration,
-for they both belonged to the military opposition which had formed the
-basis of the restoration; but, when the choice fell upon M. Grégoire,
-and when the Duc de Berri was assassinated, terror and amazement
-took possession of the _corps diplomatique_, and Pozzo di Borgo was
-not unacquainted with the resolutions which again placed the Duc de
-Richelieu at the head of affairs. The influence of the ambassador was
-then neither very strong nor important, for a very simple reason; from
-the year 1815 to 1818 it was impossible the French government should
-act independent of foreigners; they occupied the country; it was
-necessary to consult their diplomatic agents, and be in a great measure
-decided by their opinion; but, when France was delivered from them, the
-influence changed its nature, there was then no material action, only
-a moral, and consequently limited, influence exercised by the _corps
-diplomatique_.
-
-The revolutionary spirit began to be manifest in Europe: Spain, Naples,
-Piémont, had all proclaimed the constitution with arms in their hands;
-the assassination of Kotzebue, the excited state of the universities,
-the mysterious societies in the Russian army, the riots at Manchester,
-the commotions of the active population of Paris in the month of
-June 1820, all were presages of a popular movement against crowned
-heads. The thrones of Europe were never more shaken than in those two
-years of 1820 and 21; it was necessary they should defend themselves.
-Pozzo di Borgo, therefore, received orders to uphold the royalist
-system of the Duc de Richelieu's second ministry, and he entered into
-it with a loyal ardour which proceeded not only from the personal
-friendship he entertained for that minister, but also from his profound
-conviction that certain limits would not be overstepped. Nevertheless,
-from the hands of M. de Richelieu the government fell into those
-of MM. de Montmorency and De Villèle, the representatives of the
-ultra-monarchical and religious opinions, and who had a bias towards
-the English system. Count Pozzo felt some annoyance in viewing the
-triumph of men with whom he was well acquainted, and whom he had even
-been called upon to oppose in the _ordonnance_ of the 5th of September;
-but the orders of his sovereign were imperative, and he became their
-organ at Paris. He approved of the occupation of Piémont by the
-Austrians; and his advice principally decided the question of the war
-with Spain, which had been suggested at the congresses of Troppan and
-Laybach, and finally resolved upon at Verona.
-
-The royalist party returned in triumph from Cadiz, having replaced
-Ferdinand VII. on his throne. In that country, where moderation either
-in politics or religion is unknown, the power had fallen into the hands
-of Don Saez, the king's confessor; and the object of Russia being
-always to exercise a powerful influence in the south of Europe, in
-order to counterbalance that of England, Count Pozzo received orders
-to repair to Madrid and use all his endeavours to push M. Hirujo
-into the ministry, who was a man of moderate views, and consequently
-inclined to favour the Russian interests. A perfect understanding on
-this head existed between the Russian minister and M. de Villèle. M.
-de Hirujo, forerunner of M. Zéa, gained the ascendant at Madrid, and
-people could reckon upon the government of Ferdinand being conducted
-with some degree of order and regularity. Pozzo di Borgo then returned
-to Paris; he was on intimate terms with MM. Pasquier and Molé, friends
-of the Duc de Richelieu, and disapproved highly of the folly of the
-royalist party, who tormented France every year with fresh laws,
-still more remarkable for their silliness and want of importance than
-for their unpopular tendency; but the ambassador had now hardly any
-influence upon the government; it was almost entirely confined to the
-opposition formed in the diplomatic circles and in good society, which
-before long extended to the conduct of the sovereign. Although he
-approved of the law regarding the conversion of the _rentes_,[24] he
-had no hesitation in giving utterance to his opinion concerning the
-extreme unpopularity the measure would naturally be attended with. "The
-King of France," said he, "wishes to become the richest sovereign in
-Europe; but I greatly fear this measure will lead to some unfortunate
-catastrophe. People do not play with impunity with the _pot-au-feu_
-of the citizens." And the event shewed his opinion to have been well
-founded.
-
- [24] On the 5th of April, 1824, the minister of finance brought
- forward a plan to substitute _rentes_ at three per cent for those
- already existing at five per cent, reserving to the holders of the
- five per cent _rentes_ the option between the repayment of their
- nominal capital and its conversion into three per cents at the rate
- of seventy-five. Some modifications were suggested, but the plan
- failed at the time. In the following year it was renewed, and then
- it was decreed that the proprietors of five per cent _rentes_ should
- be allowed till the 22d of June (afterwards extended to the 5th of
- August) the faculty of demanding from the minister of finance their
- conversion into three per cents at the price of seventy-five, and
- till the 22d of September the faculty of requiring their conversion
- into four and a half per cent stock at par, with a guarantee in both
- cases against being paid off till September 1835. The _rentes_ so
- converted were to continue to bear interest at five per cent until
- the 22d December, 1825.--_Editor._
-
-At this period the Russian ambassador lost his protector, I may
-almost say his friend. Alexander died on his journey into the Crimea,
-a pilgrimage enveloped in mystery,[25] and which was immediately
-followed by the revolutionary movement in St. Petersburg. Some officers
-were desirous of throwing the government into the hands of the old
-Russian nobility, always ready to enter into any measure calculated
-to restore the predominance of the Muscovite aristocracy, which was
-a sort of republic formed of the great vassals of the crown. Would
-the Emperor Nicholas repose the same confidence in Pozzo di Borgo
-that his predecessor had done? He had not like Alexander a sort of
-brotherhood in arms and affairs with his ambassador, but as Count
-Nesselrode remained at the head of affairs, he retained his situation
-and presented his renewed credentials to Charles X. at the time when
-the storms of the opposition assumed every where a menacing aspect. Two
-years afterwards the ministry of M. de Villèle was at an end, and the
-king formed a fresh administration, at the head of which he intended
-placing M. de Martignac and M. de la Ferronays. The latter was at that
-time ambassador at St. Petersburg, and enjoyed the confidence of the
-Emperor Nicholas, who was therefore likely to be satisfied with his
-appointment to the ministry, and Pozzo di Borgo considered it necessary
-to support him with all his power; for the interests of Russia had at
-that time assumed so complicated a form, that the concurrence of France
-was a matter of the greatest importance to her.
-
- [25] Alexander had gone on a tour of inspection to the southern
- parts of his empire, and on arriving at a village in the Crimea,
- he insisted upon attending the service in a church which had long
- been shut up, in spite of the remonstrances of his attendants, who
- represented the danger arising from malaria. He was shortly afterwards
- seized with the fever common in the Crimea, and refused to submit to
- the strong measures recommended by his medical attendants, resolving
- to trust to abstinence and the mild remedies he had usually found
- successful when attacked by illness, but which were insufficient in
- this instance; and when he at last resigned himself into the hands of
- his physicians, it was too late. Reports were raised of his having
- been poisoned, but they were totally devoid of foundation.--_Editor._
-
-Russia had deeply offended the Porte by signing the treaty of the
-month of June 1827, which established the independence of Greece; and
-the Mussulmans, proud of their ancient glory, had been still further
-irritated by the battle of Navarino. The occupation of Moldavia and
-Wallachia had given rise to fresh dissensions, which ended by the
-Russian ambassador's quitting Constantinople. Every thing was thus
-progressing towards a war likely to involve Russia in considerable
-danger, especially if England were to take part with the Sultan: the
-Emperor Nicholas was determined to pass the Balkan, for he found it
-necessary to employ the superstitious and turbulent disposition of the
-old Russian nobility in active military operations, to prevent its
-bursting out in revolutionary attempts.
-
-Under these circumstances Count Nesselrode commissioned Pozzo di
-Borgo to sound the French cabinet as to the conditions they would
-require,--not for an armed alliance, but simply to observe a friendly
-neutrality during the oriental war. Count Pozzo proposed that France
-should keep up a force of 100, or 150,000, to act as a check upon
-Austria, and augment her armaments, so as to restrain England; he also
-hinted that should any important advantages result to Russia from
-the events of the campaign, the frontiers of France might possibly
-be reconsidered and the natural boundary of the Rhine granted to her
-without expense, by arranging an indemnity for Prussia and Holland; and
-that indeed it was not impossible the Morea might be given her as a
-compensatory measure, with the same rights as those enjoyed by England
-over the republic of the seven islands. What a magnificent portion this
-would have been for France!
-
-The first operations of the campaign were not attended with success:
-there were sanguinary sieges and doubtful battles. During this time
-Count Pozzo exhibited the utmost activity in Paris, where the checks
-sustained by the Russians were the general subject of conversation, and
-General Lamarque had even published a series of articles to prove that
-the destruction of the army was inevitable. General Pozzo entered much
-into society, and at every fresh disaster or difficulty he strove to
-remove the fears they excited as to the consequences of the war: "Wait,
-have patience," repeated he incessantly, "and then you will see." The
-best understanding existed between him and M. de la Ferronays, who
-exerted himself to calm the minds which England took equal pains to
-disturb.
-
-The following year the Russian armies were more fortunate, having
-advanced upon Constantinople, and the position of the ambassador
-became less difficult; but to counterbalance this advantage, the
-ministerial revolution took place in the month of August, which placed
-Prince Polignac, and consequently the English system of precedents and
-opinions, at the head of affairs. Pozzo de Borgo was much annoyed at
-this change; the cabinet of St. Petersburg entered into an explanation
-on the subject with M. de Mortemart, and in proportion as the French
-ministry advanced in the adventurous path of _coups d'état_, Count
-Pozzo multiplied his despatches to his government to warn them of an
-impending catastrophe. The information he gave on this subject was so
-positive, that the Emperor spoke to M. de Mortemart, telling him he was
-well aware some foolish steps were about to be taken in Paris. "The
-king of France," added he, "is at liberty to act as he pleases in his
-kingdom, but if evil comes of it, so much the worse for him. Give him
-warning that he will not be supported, and that Europe will not engage
-in a quarrel on his account."
-
-The Russian ambassador only became acquainted with the _ordonnances_
-of July the evening before they were promulgated; he had neither been
-informed confidentially, nor had he received any official intimation;
-only a few days before the event he said in a conference with Polignac,
-"Prince, I do not wish to inquire into your secrets, I do not ask you
-what you are about, only take precautions not to compromise Europe;"
-and then Prince Polignac replied with his habitual smile, so expressive
-of perfect security, "All we ask is, that Europe will not compromise
-us." At these words the ambassador turned his back upon him. When the
-fatal _ordonnances_ appeared the next day in the Moniteur, Pozzo di
-Borgo expressed great dissatisfaction and alarm at seeing the utter
-carelessness of the government in the midst of so much difficulty and
-danger, and the total absence of any military force or precaution.
-"How," said he, "are there no troops? The bridges are not occupied!
-Have no military precautions been taken?" "Every thing is quiet,"
-replied they, "nobody stirs." "Every thing quiet!" repeated the
-ambassador warmly, "yes, every thing will probably be quiet to-day, but
-to-morrow we shall have firing in the streets, and the next day who
-knows what may happen? I shall be obliged to ask for my passports."
-
-Here was the commencement of another series of events. It is necessary
-to judge the conduct of the ambassador during the latter days of the
-government which was about to expire, and the commencement of that
-which succeeded to it.
-
-The events of July were characterised by so much agitation and
-importance, that the _corps diplomatique_ must have found itself
-placed in an embarrassing position: Charles X. had quitted St. Cloud
-and sought refuge at Rambouillet, and a municipal commission had
-restored order in the midst of the insurrection. If Prince Polignac had
-possessed the slightest political forethought, he would have notified
-to the _corps diplomatique_ that the king proposed removing his menaced
-government to such and such a part of the kingdom; this resolution
-would have served as an official order to all the ambassadors, to
-accompany the sovereign who had received their credentials, and by whom
-they were officially accredited, and their presence at St. Cloud would
-have been a sort of protest against the events then taking place at
-Paris; it might also have facilitated the negotiation between the royal
-party and the Hôtel de Ville, for the provisional government would
-have been afraid of committing itself with Europe, and being exposed
-to a general war. But with the utter carelessness he displayed in the
-whole business, Prince Polignac, minister for foreign affairs, made no
-official communication to the _corps diplomatique_, but treated every
-thing with a degree of levity quite in keeping with his predestinarian
-character.
-
-The ambassadors naturally hesitated what course they should pursue in
-the midst of so many difficulties. Should they proceed to St. Cloud?
-But it was necessary the translation of the government should be
-officially notified to them by the minister for foreign affairs; ought
-they to make observations, to mix themselves up with the withdrawal
-of the _ordonnances_, or the negotiations of the Hôtel de Ville and
-the provisional government? That was not their duty, nor had they any
-right to interfere. The only plan, then, they could adopt was to await
-the end of the struggle, and not concern themselves with the plan of
-the government, until it placed itself in communication with their
-respective courts by requiring to be recognised.
-
-In a meeting at the residence of the Nuncio, they decided upon
-remaining at Paris until further orders, and taking no part in events
-until they should receive an official communication from Charles X.
-Couriers extraordinary were despatched to the different courts to keep
-them constantly informed of the progress of this important affair, and
-request further instructions; generally speaking, all the despatches
-blamed Prince Polignac's carelessness, and described the events
-that had taken place in Paris in moderate language; mentioning the
-order that prevailed in the midst of disorder, the appointment of a
-lieutenant-general of the kingdom, and the abdication of the King and
-of the Duke of Angoulême: they then awaited patiently the termination
-of the insurrection, without compromising themselves, and without
-either giving or receiving an impulsion.
-
-Here we must take a general view of the life of Count Pozzo di Borgo
-to explain the constantly serious and temperate direction of his
-despatches. He had never belonged to the ultra royalist party, but
-being a man of moderation and principle he had restricted himself to
-measures, corresponding with the events brought to pass by the French
-revolution: in this consisted the bond of union between him and the
-Richelieu party, composed of Pasquier, Molé, and de Rayneval, who
-were all strongly opposed to _coups d'état_. The despatches of Count
-Pozzo evince at all times a spirit of forethought and moderation. In
-1816 he supported the Duc de Richelieu; in 1828, the ministry of M. de
-Martignac and the Comte de la Ferronays; when the ministry of Prince
-Polignac was formed, he, like every one else, foresaw the disasters
-likely to ensue, and his correspondence made such an impression at St.
-Petersburg, that the Emperor Nicholas thought it necessary to speak to
-M. de Mortemart on the subject. The Czar entertained a strong dislike
-to the ministry of Prince Polignac, because he believed him to be
-devoted to the English system, and the fall of M. de Martignac appeared
-to him a sort of check to his eastern policy; he repeated several times
-to M. de Mortemart, "Are they preparing anything in Paris against the
-charter? Write to the King to take care what he is about; above all,
-let him avoid _coups d'état_." In considering the attitude assumed by
-the _corps diplomatique_ at this juncture, it is very important to bear
-in mind, that in the transactions of 1814 and 1815, as well as in the
-minutes of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1818, the charter and the dynasty were
-considered equally under the protection of Europe, and were viewed as
-inseparable.
-
-They had not long to wait for the recognition of most of the various
-courts of Europe; England, though governed by the Duke of Wellington
-and the Tories, approved in many successive despatches of a revolution
-conducted on the plan of that in 1688; Prussia came next, then Austria,
-without any symptom of hesitation; and, lastly, Pozzo di Borgo received
-credentials from his sovereign, which he presented with confidence and
-dignity, one idea being constantly predominant in his mind,--that order
-and peace were the first requisites in an European government.
-
-Matters were in this state when the Polish question placed Pozzo
-di Borgo in a situation of great difficulty; perhaps under no
-circumstances of his diplomatic life was more discretion required and
-displayed. The ardent sympathies of the mob had been roused in favour
-of the Poles; a commotion took place in Paris, and spread in that city
-scarcely recovered from the agitation occasioned by the revolution
-of July; the cry of "Success to Poland! Down with the Russians!" was
-heard under the windows of the ambassador, stones were thrown at the
-hôtel, and the Russian legation surrounded their chief, endeavouring
-to persuade him to demand his passports, a step that would have
-announced a complete rupture. The ambassador appeased the impatience
-of his legation: "Our sovereign," said he, "is just now in a ticklish
-situation, and we must take no rash steps with regard to France, so
-as to involve ourselves in a fresh difficulty; let us wait for the
-apologies which will soon be made us; the mob is not the government; we
-are not ambassadors to the street, but to a regular authority. Let us
-turn the popular fury, not attack it in front." The next morning the
-minister for foreign affairs paid an official visit to Count Pozzo,
-to apologise on the part of the government, and a body of troops was
-ordered for his protection against any violence that might still be
-attempted by the mob.
-
-From his earliest youth Pozzo di Borgo had been accustomed to dwell
-in the midst of political crises, and he was therefore not disturbed
-by the symptoms of insurrection around him, especially as he had full
-confidence in the wisdom and decision of the cabinet; some secret
-conferences had also made him aware, that France would not interfere
-in favour of Poland, but would allow Russia, Austria, and Prussia,
-the free exercise of their rights over that unfortunate country. The
-treaties of 1815 were still more firmly established than before, a
-few empty words of sympathy or encouragement were bestowed upon the
-insurgents, and Europe viewed with satisfaction the conduct of the new
-government, whose moderate measures had been rendered more difficult,
-by the threatening attitude assumed by different parties, and the
-prevalence of excited opinions armed with sufficient power to make
-them dangerous. Is no credit due to the wisdom which was the means of
-preserving peace? the forethought and moderation which averted the
-evil tendency of party spirit? Count Pozzo was loaded with compliments
-and expressions of gratitude, for he had probably saved Europe from
-a general war by not quitting Paris. The Polish insurrection was put
-down, after which all the forces of Russia were available against any
-foreign interference; and the ambassador who had safely passed through
-the dangerous crisis, had great cause to congratulate himself upon
-results, which left the cabinet of St. Petersburg at liberty to decide
-at once upon the fate of Poland. That country received no assistance
-from France; the interference of the French Chambers was limited to
-some barren protests in answer to which Pozzo di Borgo represented that
-Poland had been the aggressor, having torn asunder the bands of the
-constitution by her revolt, and that the Propaganda alone would be to
-blame should Poland now cease entirely to exist: that great efforts
-had been made since the year 1815 to overcome the natural antipathy
-entertained by the Russians for the Poles, which was as strong as
-the dislike existing between the Jews and Christians in Poland. What
-exertion and anxiety it had cost the generous heart of Alexander to
-give a national constitution to Poland! it was a subject on which he
-had consulted rather his feelings than his understanding, and the old
-Russian nobility had never forgiven his conduct on the occasion.
-
-In the midst of all these serious political occurrences, of the
-disturbances in Paris, the various plots both foreign and domestic, the
-Russian campaign against Constantinople, and the imperative,--I might
-almost say, the capricious orders of his court, Count Pozzo always
-preserved the character of a man of impartial moderation, and of a
-skilful statesman who conceives and works out a system, without giving
-way to any of the crotchets formed by prince or courtier capable of
-endangering more serious interests. He who had resisted the Emperor
-Alexander by expressing his opinion with firmness, always continued
-to refuse obedience to instructions irreconcilable with the rules
-of general policy, which form the basis and regulate the relations
-between one state and another. Such was the constant tenor of his
-despatches after the year 1830. He was convinced that France, to the
-rest of Europe must serve as a principle either of order or disorder,
-possessing either way very great influence; and to all requisitions
-which did not tally with these ideas, he replied by writing to his
-court, "You have other agents besides me for affairs of this nature; I
-am only fit for moderate and conciliatory measures."
-
-When the Turkish war was concluded, the ambassador received orders to
-proceed to London for the purpose of forming a just estimate of the
-state of affairs, and the position of the Whigs and Tories; having been
-successful in his endeavours to prevent France from taking part against
-Russia, it now became equally essential to sound the Tories, and
-become acquainted with the bent of their views, should parliament and
-the march of public opinion again place them at the head of affairs.
-The official ambassador from Russia to London was Prince Lieven, or
-rather it was said _Princess_ Lieven, a woman of great ability, whose
-brilliant assemblies were the favourite resort of the Tory nobility,
-and the centre of political intelligence. Count Pozzo had very little
-communication with the Whig ministry; his acquaintance was principally
-with the Duke of Wellington and the Earl of Aberdeen, who was
-minister for foreign affairs, for the Tory interest; for that party,
-although out of office, still retained some representatives among the
-ministry. The conversations between the Duke and Pozzo di Borgo, were
-an interchange of recollections and hopes, together with the means
-of regulating the probabilities of the return of the Tories into the
-ministry. It was already in contemplation, although public opinion had
-strongly opposed a premature attempt made by the Duke of Wellington
-to resume the direction of affairs. In political life it is a mark of
-great ability to know how _to bide one's time_.
-
-Still a kind of slight was about to cloud the life of Count Pozzo.
-Hitherto whatever missions might have been assigned to him exclusive
-of his official functions in Paris, he had always retained the title
-of ambassador to the court of France, and his tastes and inclinations
-led him to consider that country as his own. When he was despatched to
-Madrid, and more recently to London, his sovereign had not withdrawn
-his credentials, his post was still Paris: what was the reason a
-different course of proceeding took place upon this occasion, and that
-he received the title of ambassador extraordinary to his Britannic
-Majesty? It would be in vain to deny that it was a mark of his being
-out of favour, nor was this the only occasion upon which such had been
-the case in the course of his life. His disposition was not one that
-would bend to caprices or submit to demands which did not concern him.
-I have heard him complain of being watched by a number of special
-envoys, whose employments did not fall within the range of the regular
-communications between two governments, two nations naturally formed
-to esteem each other. This somewhat haughty disposition, led to the
-ambassador's loss of favour; it was however covered by a purple robe,
-by the appointment of ambassador to London.
-
-Count Nesselrode entered into an explanation of the duties connected
-with the ambassador's new appointment. It was intended he should use
-all his influence to support the menaced Tory interest; his intimacy
-with the Duke of Wellington was well known, but it was considered that
-a merely provisional title, would not be sufficient to confer the
-necessary _éclat_ and importance upon the Russian ambassador, for which
-reason he was to receive the definitive and official appointment. As
-soon as the mission should be accomplished, when the Duke of Wellington
-should have been dissuaded from his inclination to unite with Austria
-on the Eastern question, and the Tories have been actively supported,
-Pozzo di Borgo was to be reinstated in his appointment in Paris, and
-permitted to follow his tastes and habitual pursuits in the country
-he considered as his home. This despatch afforded some consolation to
-the ambassador, who was affected by a feeling of sadness in breaking
-the ties that bound him to a society in which he had so many intimate
-friends, but in these mournful separations he was now supported by the
-hope of a speedy return. Every thing around was dear to him, even the
-palace whose gradual embellishment he had taken pleasure in watching;
-the verdure of the gardens, the shade of exotic trees, the fragrant
-flowers, the vast and well-chosen library of Italian authors, whose
-works he was so fond of reciting from memory, and the views of Corsica
-suspended in his apartments, the gulf of Ajaccio which recalled the
-early youth of the friend of Paoli.
-
-When admitted to any degree of intimacy with Count Pozzo, you were
-particularly struck with the energy of his manners and his vigorous
-mode of expression; his handsome though swarthy countenance was shaded
-by greyish hair, always arranged in a picturesque manner, as Gerard has
-represented him in one of his admirable portraits. His conversation was
-at first reserved and guarded, but gradually became animated and full
-of imagery and wit which sparkled through a slightly Corsican accent;
-his memory resembled a vast bazaar, full of the varied recollections
-of a long and troubled life. If you were desirous of seeing the mind
-of Count Pozzo in its full glory, you had only to speak to him of
-Corsica, ask him questions concerning the history of Paoli, or turn the
-conversation upon the national republic established in the island, and
-the _Consulta_ which chose him as secretary to the government, and then
-you would be struck with the animation of his voice and gestures; his
-piercing eyes seemed to seek in your mind the emotions that glowed in
-his own, till you actually felt as if present with him at the assembly
-where the Corsican people proclaimed their independence. He did not
-indulge in anecdotes to the degree Talleyrand used to do in his long
-evening conversations, but he was more serious and truthful in his
-reminiscences, and did not play with facts, but always took a serious
-view of them. Without the habitual tact that characterised him, he
-might have been drawn into further confessions, for he was scarcely
-master of himself when speaking of his early political life. He was a
-man whose memory was so full of facts, that they oozed out at every
-pore; a spirit I took great delight in consulting, because the great
-struggle of Europe against Napoleon was shadowed forth by him, in a
-very different point of view from that assumed by the bad pamphlets of
-the imperial school.
-
-I saw him depart for London in the full enjoyment of his powerful
-faculties, retaining his eagle glance, the elevated expression of
-his noble brow, and his bright searching eyes, while his mouth was
-expressive of mildness and goodness. But he was evidently out of
-spirits, and he quitted Paris with the idea that some misfortune would
-occur before he should see it again. In London he transacted the
-affairs of his government with the same devotion and activity as ever,
-but he took no pleasure in his employment; the friendship of the Duke
-of Wellington, his companion in more than one battle-field, was his
-only enjoyment; they passed whole days together at Apsley House talking
-over the affairs of Europe, and their recollections; speaking, the one
-of the caprice of the people who broke his windows, the other of the
-ingratitude of a court incapable of comprehending that order, and peace
-with a powerful nation like France, are essential to the tranquillity
-of Europe.
-
-Weary of so long a diplomatic career, he had at last obtained
-permission to seek the retirement he so ardently coveted, when a letter
-from the Emperor apprised him of the intended journey of a Czarewitch
-to London, and requested him to act as a guide to the young prince
-during his stay in England. This involved a degree of responsibility
-and of moral fatigue which shortened the life of Count Pozzo. How would
-the heir to the Russian throne be received by the English nation,
-so capricious both in their affections and their hatred? The trial
-terminated happily, but it may be safely asserted that the last remains
-of strength possessed by the ambassador sunk under the exertion.
-
-I saw him on his return to Paris: what a sad alteration from his former
-self! and what mere worms we are in the hand of God, who disposes at
-His pleasure of the mind and intellects of man! He no longer found any
-enjoyment or ease except in the society of his nephew, Count Pozzo di
-Borgo, and his amiable niece, a daughter of the noble house of Crillon.
-Was the old ambassador desirous of shewing that he had never ceased
-to be a Frenchman, by quartering his Corsican coat-of-arms with the
-escutcheon and honourable devices borne by the brother-in-arms of Henry
-IV.?
-
-
-
-
-M. PASQUIER.
-
-
-The administration of the Empire was, generally speaking, strong, full
-of energy and unity of purpose; it was composed of two elements, the
-ruins of the republican party now rallied around the dictatorship of
-Napoleon, and became submissive under his iron rule, such as Treilhard,
-Merlin, and Thibaudeau, and the pure and elevated remains of the
-old monarchical school, like Molé, De Fontanes, and De Narbonne.
-According to the custom observed in all governments possessed of any
-portion of strength and intelligence, Buonaparte collected around
-himself all the persons whose names were honourably connected with
-past events, or exercised any influence over the present or the past;
-he indulged neither in fear nor repugnance, because he had perfect
-confidence in his own power of restraining and managing every thing.
-Before the revolution of 1789, some parliamentary families existed,
-who transmitted the highest magisterial offices from one generation
-to another, forming a sanctuary in which public morals, duties, and
-learning, were preserved and perpetuated. There were no doubt some
-little party prejudices among them, together with a tendency towards
-the feelings of the patricians of Rome; considering themselves to have
-succeeded to the assemblies of the states-general. But though the
-parliament sometimes threw difficulties in the way of the executive
-government, still they maintained the spirit of liberty and probity
-through the lapse of ages, and people considered them as a political
-guarantee, upon occasions when a degree of confusion and disorder
-prevailed in the constitution of the country.
-
-The family of the Pasquiers were descended from Etienne Pasquier, a man
-of great talent and erudition, author of a celebrated work entitled
-"_Recherches sur la France_." His character was very remarkable from
-the versatility of his talents and occupations; he wrote clever verses,
-and displayed the greatest ability in the important correspondence
-in which he was engaged, and during the troubles of the League, he
-strove to find a middle course from whence he might offer himself as
-a timid mediator among the opposing parties. In my writings upon the
-events of the sixteenth century, I have often spoken of that good
-Etienne Pasquier, with his ingenious talents and the exquisite tact he
-displayed in the evil times of civil war.
-
-The direct progenitors of the subject of this memoir held an
-appointment in the parliament, and his father, Etienne Pasquier,
-councillor in the parliament of Paris, was denounced at the
-revolutionary tribunal and condemned to death on the 21st of April,
-1794. His son was brought up at the College of Juilly, a fine
-institution, which has produced many distinguished characters. I have
-always admired the mild and careful system pursued by religious bodies,
-where the education of the heart and mind is as carefully attended to
-as that of the head, and which invested each professor with so paternal
-a character, that even the most ungrateful of his pupils could never
-entirely shake off the recollection; witness Voltaire and Diderot.
-
-M. Pasquier had scarcely left college before he was appointed to
-a situation in the Parisian parliament, according to the custom
-observed in families of the legal profession, where the office of the
-father was inherited by the son. He did not long continue to wear the
-parliamentary habit; he was, however, enabled to be present at the
-solemn debates which took place in that assembly, and were terminated
-by the convocation of the States-general, and he there received his
-first lesson in political life. The magistracy were carried away in the
-general tempest, and the parliaments were destroyed by the revolution;
-the resistance to the royal prerogative had originated with them, and
-both were abolished at the same time.
-
-Popular excitement is always ungrateful, and deals its first blow upon
-those by whom it has been assisted or fostered, thus affording an
-important lesson to demagogues or flatterers of the populace.
-
-M. Pasquier did not emigrate during the revolutionary troubles; he
-was proscribed like all persons bearing a historic name, and at the
-age of twenty-six years he received a summons to appear before the
-committee of public safety, which was soon after succeeded by his
-being placed under arrest at St. Lazare, on the evening before the 9th
-Thermidor. The close of the reign of terror restored him to liberty,
-and the restoration of the property of condemned persons enabled him
-to retire to the estates of his family, which like those possessed by
-all the parliamentary races were covered with thick woods, in whose
-impenetrable retreats they were accustomed to seek shelter, in the evil
-days of exile, from their accustomed employments.
-
-When order was restored under Napoleon, M. Pasquier returned to Paris,
-and appeared in society, especially at the house of M. Cambacérès, who
-was partial to the old magisterial families, and his remarkable talents
-soon brought him into notice. At that period the Emperor was desirous
-of establishing a monarchical system upon elevated principles, and
-sought every where among men and things the materials for his purpose;
-every noble or influential name attracted his attention, for he was
-well aware of the power exercised by hereditary rank, and knew that
-past recollections have as much influence as present energy in the
-restoration of States. The Arch-chancellor Cambacérès agreed in the
-Emperor's sentiments; and he, who was himself one of the enlightened
-magistrates of the _Cour des Aides_ at Montpelier, suggested the name
-of M. Pasquier for the situation of Master of Requests. It is rather
-a remarkable circumstance that the memorial of the Arch-chancellor
-contained the names of three candidates, MM. de Molé, Pasquier, and
-Portalis; they all received appointments on the same day, and have
-never been separated in the course of their political life, their
-career having been facilitated and its importance augmented by the
-strong political friendship that subsisted between them, in spite of
-the difference in their age and capacity.
-
-M. Pasquier, while master of requests at the _Conseil d'Etat_, was
-distinguished by his laborious attention and assiduity, at the time
-when improvement had assumed a serious and reflective form; he had
-passed his fortieth year when he was appointed attorney-general of the
-great seal, and afterwards Councillor of state. The State council was
-a powerful and important school; the Emperor, who entertained a strong
-antipathy towards all bodies that deliberated under the sanction of
-publicity, had a perfect horror of the representative system, and
-public speaking; he liked to collect suffrages, to listen to all
-opinions, reserving to himself the right of deciding upon them, and
-weighing them against each other in such a manner, that an imperial
-decree should never sanction an equivocal project or a bad measure. The
-council of state, composed of very eminent men, was the real _corps
-politique_; and even the title of Master of requests was not a common
-rank granted to aspirants of an inferior grade. In this anxious and
-laborious situation, the Masters of requests, attached to a section of
-the council, devoted their existence to it, and the great end and aim
-of their executive career was the situation of Councillor of state, a
-title of which the characters best known to fame were ambitious.
-
-This close and incessant every-day application suited perfectly the
-studious mind of M. Pasquier; a generation of young men had sprung up,
-whose souls were entirely given up to assiduous attention to business,
-and who devoted themselves to the active and deliberative portion
-of the administration. The Master of requests had already received
-the title of Baron and officer of the legion of honour in reward of
-his services, when the dismissal of M. Dubois, after the melancholy
-burning of Prince Schwartzenburg's palace, left vacant the prefecture
-of police, an appointment originally instituted during the Consulate.
-The police was divided into two parts:--the political police, which was
-charged with the general safety of the kingdom and the surveillance
-of political parties, constantly in a state of commotion even under
-the heavy hand of Napoleon; it was always intrusted to the minister
-of a department, and the situation was at that time filled by General
-Savary; and the prefecture of police, an appointment of a more simple
-order, circumscribed within the walls of Paris, whose chief had charge
-of the _édilité_, that is to say, of the safety and cleanliness of
-the city and the inspection of the markets and provisions, all duties
-of considerable importance. The prefect of police also regulated the
-bulletins concerning the state of the public mind, so as to act as
-a check upon the minister of police. During the time of the Empire,
-each of these situations involved serious duties and considerable
-responsibility.
-
-When appointed to the prefecture of police, M. Pasquier devoted himself
-entirely to the discharge of his official duties, and voluminous
-writings still exist upon the provisioning of the capital, and the
-method of multiplying magazines in the time of abundance; this had now
-become a question of great anxiety, occupying the serious attention
-of the government, for in the year 1811, the first symptoms of an
-alarming scarcity made their appearance. The price of bread had reached
-an exorbitant height, and people were constantly on the brink of a
-disturbance owing to the dearness of grain of all kinds. I have perused
-and analysed with the greatest attention the important writings of M.
-Pasquier under the empire, deposited in the archives of the prefecture
-of police.[26]
-
- [26] See "L'Europe pendant le Consulat et l'Empire de Napoleon."
-
-It must be recollected that Napoleon was then about to depart upon
-his Russian expedition, and it may easily be imagined that contending
-parties would give occasion to extreme anxiety during his adventurous
-campaign: how great was that entertained by the prefect of police! his
-nights were devoted to quieting the alarms excited by false bulletins,
-and strengthening the confidence of the people, for the _prestige_
-that surrounded Napoleon was beginning to disappear, a certain spirit
-of independence and animadversion was gradually gaining ground, and
-numerous caricatures, _bons mots_, and epigrams, attacked the moral
-power of the Emperor.
-
-The romantic enterprise of General Mallet took place at this juncture;
-it was a prodigious act of boldness, shewing how slight was the tenure
-of Napoleon's power; one hour more, or one man less, and the most
-powerful empire of modern times would have been at an end! M. Pasquier
-has been reproached with having allowed himself to be surprised by
-the insurrection, but, in the first place, he had nothing to do with
-watching the formation of plots, that duty devolved upon M. Savary,
-the minister of police; and besides, to do justice to all parties,
-what vigilance can possibly foresee or control the plans conceived by
-_one_ man in the silence of a prison? General Mallet was armed with
-a military power which it was in vain to resist, and M. Pasquier was
-surprised at the prefecture, hurried into a _voiture de place_ and
-conveyed to the prison of La Force, with injunctions that he should be
-detained there until the provisional government was established. He was
-not liberated until after the suppression of the conspiracy, having
-steadily refrained from making any concessions to the conspirators,
-but merely submitting to the fate prepared for him by a military
-insurrection. A magistrate who gives way to the commands of unlawful
-authority, is guilty of betraying his trust; he ought to remain
-steadfast in his duty, even should violence cast him into a dungeon.
-
-Napoleon formed a favourable judgment of the conduct of M. Pasquier,
-and continued him in his appointment of prefect of police, while M.
-Frochot, prefect of the Seine, was dismissed by the council of state,
-assembled to examine into the degree of culpability and negligence,
-to be attributed to the different functionaries in the sad affair of
-Mallet. The Emperor viewing matters from his elevated position, judged
-the prefect of police to be perfectly undeserving of blame or censure,
-as he had merely yielded to force, and it was utterly impossible for
-him either to foresee or to prevent a disturbance conducted in so
-unusual a manner; the most subtle and watchful mind could not have
-suspected the meditations indulged in by so adventurous a person as
-General Mallet; besides which, as I said before, General Savary had
-charge of the political police. This severe trial soon afforded M.
-Pasquier an opportunity of rendering an important service to the city
-of Paris, by the creation and organisation of the gendarmerie, which,
-under a different name, has on so many occasions greatly contributed to
-maintain the peace and security of the capital. He had before, in the
-year 1811, remodelled the corps of firemen,[27] whose devotion to their
-duty and noble courage deserves the highest praise.
-
- [27] Sapeurs-pompiers.
-
-The difficult circumstances of the times were increasing; if the
-management of the Parisian police was a hard task while the glory and
-prosperity of Napoleon were at their height, how much more delicate,
-and consequently more odious and watchful, was its office during the
-season of reverses and misfortune? Parties were now in commotion,
-people were no longer silent upon their desire of a change, and
-the probability such might be the case, and the enemy was rapidly
-approaching the capital: M. Pasquier fulfilled his duties to the very
-last moment, by the wise and firm administration of his office; he
-reduced the duties of his prefecture to the maintenance of public
-tranquillity, and the careful management of every thing relating to
-the repose and well-being of the city; thus returning to the original
-charge he had received from the Emperor,--attention to the safety
-and cleanliness of Paris, which were formerly almost the only duties
-required from the lieutenant of police.
-
-When the artillery was heard in thunders upon the capital, the
-senatorial party and Talleyrand invited him to support the political
-alterations produced by circumstances, but it was not until the evening
-before the allies entered Paris, that he, like M. Chabrol,[28] prefect
-of the Seine, joined the movement which led to the restoration. The
-enemy were about to enter Paris, and it was necessary the public
-safety should not be endangered by any popular tumult; the influence
-of the prefect of police was therefore most essential, but it was
-merely passively exerted with regard to political events; it received
-an impulse from them, but did not communicate any. Talleyrand had
-formed a just estimate of the character of M. Pasquier, and attached
-great importance to obtaining his concurrence. It was he who prepared
-the proclamations urging the citizens to the maintenance of order;
-and he entered into a communication with Count Nesselrode and the
-allied generals, then taking possession of Paris. His connexion with
-diplomatic affairs dates from this difficult period, as well as his
-political career under the restoration; and when afterwards appointed
-minister for foreign affairs, the reminiscences of Paris in the year
-1814 rose to his mind and were of great service to him in assisting the
-diplomatic arrangements of his cabinet.
-
- [28] The Comte de Chabrol had been appointed prefect of the Seine
- upon the dismissal of Frochot after Mallet's conspiracy, and had
- distinguished himself by the most inflated expressions of devotion
- to the Emperor. "What is life," said he, "compared to the immense
- interests which rest upon the sacred head of the heir of the Empire?
- For me, whom an unexpected glance of your imperial eye has called
- from a distance to a post so eminent, what I most value in the
- distinction is the honour and right of setting the foremost example
- of loyal devotion!"--_Editor._
-
-A conciliatory character was manifested at the accession of the
-Bourbons, and the police ceased to possess the importance attached to
-its active administration during the reign of Napoleon; it was no
-longer a fit situation for a man of such abilities as M. Pasquier,
-he therefore resigned the prefecture, and was appointed by the king
-one of the council of state, and received, a few days afterwards, the
-situation of inspector-general of the bridges and causeways, an active
-and important appointment in a country where so much remained to be
-done for the improvement of the roads, and internal communication of
-the kingdom. He displayed in his new office the activity and laborious
-attention which characterised the imperial school, and the principal
-part of the great enterprises with regard to roads were executed under
-his direction. In France we think a great deal of public speeches and
-very little of improvement; and it is a singular fact that we, who are
-the most intelligent and industrious of nations, are at least twenty
-years behind our neighbours in every thing relating to roads: even
-Germany and Switzerland are far in advance of us. The commissioners for
-bridges and causeways, while they spend large sums of money, are faulty
-in their mode of administration, and do not make the most of their
-resources; M. Pasquier exerted himself to improve this vast branch of
-the public service, but his appointment was of short duration, for the
-march of Napoleon upon Paris put an end to all executive existence, and
-he was unemployed during the hundred days.
-
-When the white flag of Louis XVIII. floated above the tower of St.
-Denis, M. Pasquier offered his services to the king; he was included in
-the first ministry of Talleyrand as keeper of the seals, and exercised
-at the same time the functions of minister for the interior, an
-appointment of extreme delicacy and difficulty in the crisis of that
-period. France was invaded by 700,000 strangers, the public mind was in
-a state of constant agitation, and the principles of the restoration
-had excited a deplorable reaction in several of the provinces; it thus
-became necessary to organise the system of the prefects, to repress
-the too ardent zeal occasionally exhibited, prevent the sanguinary
-vengeance of parties, and prepare and advance the election of upright
-persons of moderate views, in order to heal the wounds of the country.
-Nothing is easier than to judge people with severity after a lapse of
-years, and when events are long over; and thus the services rendered
-by some statesmen in seasons of peril are soon forgotten, or are but
-imperfectly appreciated by people, who are in the full enjoyment of
-peace and security, and therefore inclined to exercise a mathematical
-rectitude in their judgment of facts. If we look back upon the year
-1815, after the double invasion and heavy military contributions, we
-shall see that it was impossible for a government to display more
-exemplary moderation, before the face of a victorious party, to whose
-conditions it had been compelled to submit. M. Pasquier followed the
-fortunes of Prince Talleyrand; he gave in his resignation and was
-succeeded by M. de Barbé-Marbois.
-
-He had however, always been strongly inclined towards the moderate
-system which gained the ascendant under the Richelieu ministry,
-and shortly after its formation he was appointed one of the
-commissioners for the liquidation of the foreign debts; it was a
-post of great confidence, for if the laws of honesty were set aside,
-enormous fortunes might soon be amassed. M. Pasquier's integrity was
-unimpeachable, and he was the worthy colleague of M. Mounier, the most
-honest man belonging to the noble Richelieu school.
-
-He was elected by the department of the Seine as their representative,
-and on taking his seat in the chamber of deputies, after the ordonnance
-of the 3d of September, he was nominated president; from this
-parliamentary position, he again passed into the ministry in the month
-of January 1817, the Duc de Richelieu having caused him to be appointed
-keeper of the seals.
-
-A conciliatory system was predominant in the whole of M. Pasquier's
-ministerial conduct at this period, and he was the first to enlarge
-at the tribune upon the principles of the liberty of the press and
-the responsibility of editors. There was still too much irritation
-in people's minds, and the country still too much overwhelmed, to
-allow the independence of the newspapers to be safely established
-as a principle; books and pamphlets only were free, for a gradual
-approach was making towards liberty, and the opinions laid down by M.
-Pasquier are still considered as law upon the subject. The degree of
-responsibility was perfectly well regulated, and the minister's motives
-are clearly explained, and expressed with an elevation of principle and
-closeness of reasoning which distinguish the true parliamentary style.
-In England statesmen are in the habit of publishing their speeches,
-because they form the record of their lives.
-
-When the Duc de Richelieu's ministry was dissolved in the latter part
-of the year 1817, M. Pasquier had no hesitation in retiring from office
-with the noble negotiator of the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. M. Dessolle
-was at the head of the new ministry, and M. Decaze naturally filled a
-post of the highest importance in it; but the movement which was about
-to incline them towards the ideas of the _parti gauche_ was too decided
-to make it possible M. Pasquier should join them; and it soon became
-apparent to him that the law of elections, although commendable for its
-simplicity, was still liable to produce evil results. He possessed very
-remarkable influence over the course of affairs, in spite of his having
-retired from office; and one of his political habits was always to
-compose a memorial upon every situation that occurred, for he liked to
-observe men and circumstances as from an eminence, so as to enlighten
-those in authority. In the month of October 1819, he presented a
-memorial to Louis XVIII. upon the proceedings of the ministry, calling
-attention to the faults they had committed and the bad effects of the
-law of elections; and he considered the situation of affairs to be such
-as to render an immediate change necessary in the government of the
-country.
-
-Accordingly when the ministry of M. Decaze decided upon modifying
-the law of elections, M. Pasquier was offered an appointment; he did
-not resume the situation of keeper of the seals, but undertook the
-direction of foreign affairs; our situation with regard to our foreign
-relations having assumed a serious aspect, it was necessary they should
-be under the charge of a minister quite resolved to resist any tendency
-towards a spirit of revolution. M. Decaze lost office after the
-assassination of the Duc de Berry; and on the formation of the second
-Richelieu ministry, M. Pasquier retained the situation of minister for
-foreign affairs, only with the proviso that he was to consult the noble
-duke upon points relating to diplomatic matters. The Duc de Richelieu,
-from his connexion with the various cabinets of Europe, must have
-inspired great confidence in diplomatic proceedings of importance.
-
-From this period the existence of M. Pasquier was divided into two
-distinct portions, the one being passed at the tribune, and the other
-devoted to business. I am not acquainted with any session when the
-debates were more violent or more contested than that of 1820; the
-speeches were remarkable for their eloquence, the names of General
-Foy, of Camille Jordan, and Benjamin Constant, appeared, beside those
-of Casimir Périer and Lafitte; each question was decided by a small
-majority, and it was necessary to modify the law of elections, and
-determine upon measures rendered indispensable by the circumstances
-succeeding the death of the Duc de Berry. The superiority of M.
-Pasquier's abilities was evident during this long session, where
-he was incessantly in the tribune, opposing, in the most decided
-and authoritative manner, the orators of the liberal party. When an
-alarming tumult took place in the public square, M. Pasquier appeared
-at the tribune to denounce the instigators of the disturbances,
-undismayed by the threats and vociferations of the revolutionary
-_parti gauche_. He spoke without disguise or circumlocution, and
-as to the phrase with which he has been so much reproached, _sur
-l'arbitraire_,[29] is it any thing beyond a simple declaration of what
-the government was desirous of obtaining, and requested from the power
-authorised to grant it? Every thing that was obtained had demanded
-incredible efforts, and whatever may have been said of the session of
-1820 by those under the influence of party spirit, it was undoubtedly
-the finest period of the representative system, recalling the times of
-Pitt, Grenville, and Dundas, opposed to Fox, Erskine, and Sheridan.
-
- [29] The law to authorise arbitrary arrests was equivalent to
- the suspension of the Habeas Corpus act in England: and it was
- originally brought forward by M. Decaze and strenuously supported
- by Baron Pasquier. It was proposed that it should continue in force
- for one year, and after a debate which lasted for several sittings,
- it was passed by a majority of nineteen votes, modified however by
- the introduction of a clause forbidding arrests to be made under it
- during the night. A law restraining the liberty of the press was
- also passed after being most obstinately contested. The majority in
- the chamber of peers was only _two_ on this occasion.--_Editor._
-
-M. Pasquier's situation was not less difficult as minister for foreign
-affairs; for the revolutionary spirit had declared itself almost
-simultaneously in Spain, Naples, and Piémont. France, it is true,
-adopted the repressive system, and in this respect agreed with the
-plan suggested at the congresses of Laybach and Troppau; nevertheless
-the minister for foreign affairs could not overlook the material
-interests of France; the Austrians, desirous of marching upon Piémont
-and Naples, wanted to occupy definitively both these places, and how
-was it possible France should not feel uneasy at the sight of the
-German standards unfurled beyond the Alps, and extending even as far as
-Savoy? A series of notes passed on this occasion between M. Pasquier
-and Prince Metternich; and it was positively decided between the two
-ministers, that if the Austrian occupation should be necessary, it
-should be strictly limited to such a period, as would neither affect
-the consideration nor the importance of France. Metternich faithfully
-fulfilled this engagement, and the evacuation of Piémont took place at
-the stipulated time.
-
-If you consult any of the persons employed in the foreign office, they
-will speak of M. Pasquier's assiduous attention to his work, and of
-his perfect capability of bringing a negotiation to the termination he
-wished; and they will also tell you he shewed extreme judgment, in all
-the great difficulties incident to a situation so liable to constant
-change of circumstances.
-
-A complete rupture had taken place with the old liberal system; and
-to insure success in this enterprise, the Richelieu ministry had been
-obliged to apply to the ultra-royalist party. At the commencement
-of the session of 1821, the council decided upon adding MM. de la
-Corbière, de Villèle, and Lainé, to the cabinet; it was a great
-mistake, it was either granting too much or too little; for, in fact,
-what figure could they make in the cabinet as ministers without
-appointments, and yet chiefs of the majority? And what was the
-consequence? secret dissensions, as might naturally be expected, arose
-from the very commencement of the attempted coalition; consultations
-were held in the king's council, after which, MM. de Villèle and
-Corbière privately expressed their dissatisfaction, and revealed the
-designs of the ministry to their colleagues on the _côté droit_ in the
-Piet society; quarrels naturally suceeded, which eventually led to the
-rupture that took place after the session of 1821.
-
-The royalists, in general, entertained an extreme dislike to M.
-Pasquier, and a great part of the _côté droit_ could could not endure
-him.[30] All the opposition towards the end of the session was directed
-against him, till, at last, his patience was exhausted, and he assumed
-a high tone with the Ultras by openly and unhesitatingly declaring
-his inclinations and his repugnances, expressing himself with so much
-boldness and freedom that the whole of the _parti droit_ declared war
-to him. M. Pasquier wanted to have done with the whole business; his
-situation fatigued him, and, foreseeing the downfall of the ministry,
-he obtained a seat in the upper chamber, being made a peer of France in
-the course of the month of November 1821. The ministry of the Duc de
-Richelieu had resigned office on the occasion of the address, and the
-Duc de Montmorency assumed the charge of foreign affairs.
-
- [30] He was accused of great political tergiversation, and M.
- Vaublanc, a keen royalist, designated him as "a man who never left
- one administration till he had prepared to enter another, who never
- deserted one set of friends till he had looked out for another more
- in favour at court, and who had skipped into successive cabinets
- with that ease which marked all his movements."--_Editor._
-
-M. Pasquier took his seat in the upper chamber, at that time a
-powerful institution possessed of hereditary rank, property, and the
-_majorats_. The prospects of the young peerage were very great, and
-evidence was soon afforded of what they were capable of doing, by
-their constant opposition to the faults and ill-judged proceedings
-of the restoration. M. Pasquier, placing himself on the same benches
-as the statesmen of the Richelieu party, made a point of speaking
-upon every subject that came before the house, and the judgment
-and deep thought which characterised his discourses, caused them
-to exercise great influence over the chamber. He spoke against the
-rights of primogeniture, the creation of the three per cents, and the
-law of sacrilege; and his speeches were often the means of deciding
-the question by their influence on the majority obtained. He placed
-himself in constant and direct opposition to the Villèle cabinet, which
-occasioned a strange advance in revolutionary ideas, by the constant
-injury it inflicted upon the interests and affections of modern France.
-
-There was not quite the same vehemence of debate in the chamber of
-peers as in that of the deputies, but it attained to more certain
-results. There was a degree of quiet, and at the same time great
-political judgment, in the discussions, not allowing themselves to
-be carried away by the spirit of party, but continuing so steadily
-to advance towards the downfall of M. de Villèle's ministry, that
-we may safely assert, the retirement of the royalist cabinet of the
-restoration was owing to their efforts. It must be confessed, this
-opposition was rather against the order of things; an aristocratic
-power which opposed the elements of an aristocratic constitution,
-was not in good keeping; but the fault lay with the party of the
-restoration, which interfered too hastily with the new ideas and
-prejudices prevalent in France.
-
-The chamber of peers obtained a complete triumph; although weakened
-by successive promotions,[31] its influence over the elections of 1827
-was very great. The Martignac ministry was formed upon the principles
-of the Richelieu administration, that is to say, with the upright
-intentions that characterised the statesmen of that noble school.
-M. Pasquier naturally assumed his proper degree of ascendancy over
-that administration; the bond of recollections and of similarity of
-principles united him with M. Portalis, the keeper of the seals; and
-it was repeatedly proposed that he should resume the charge of the
-foreign office, his name having even been suggested by the council of
-the ministers after the retirement of M. de la Ferronays. Charles X.
-however negatived the appointment when the list of the candidates was
-presented to him, for he did not wish to have any man of importance
-in a ministry which could only be of transitory duration; and certain
-prejudices, dating from the year 1815, which had never been effaced
-from the king's mind, first made him prefer M. de Rayneval, and
-afterwards, finding the influence of that able diplomatist upon the
-two chambers not sufficiently powerful, M. de Portalis was appointed
-minister for foreign affairs.
-
- [31] At the same moment that he dissolved the chamber of deputies,
- the king created seventy-six new peers, all of them people devoted
- to the government.
-
-The formation of the Polignac ministry occasioned great uneasiness
-to the political party, which was always composed of men of eminent
-talents, and desirous of the establishment and preservation of order;
-they observed with great anxiety the impending crisis, and they
-dreaded the fatal struggle likely to be attempted by the party of the
-restoration. All these experienced minds were well acquainted with
-Charles X.; they knew that with all the advantages of his chivalrous
-disposition, his undoubted uprightness of mind, his thoroughly
-French character, he still had an unfortunate inclination for _coups
-d'état_, and extravagant actions that might compromise the safety of
-his government. The _corps diplomatique_ were equally uneasy, and
-confidential communications took place between them and the political
-party, expressing their sense of the danger and agitation likely to be
-caused by a _coup d'état_; they were consequently less surprised than
-alarmed by the promulgation of the _ordonnances_ of July. The political
-party held itself in reserve during the popular crisis, and when order
-was a little restored, it confined itself to giving a monarchical bias
-to society, as the only means of preserving France from a foreign or
-domestic war. As soon as the charter had restored the balance of power,
-and the monarchical form of government, M. Pasquier was appointed
-president of the chamber of peers.
-
-He had hardly taken his seat before he had to encounter the trial of
-the ministers of Charles X., the chamber of peers having been converted
-into a court of justice. We must look back upon the feelings of that
-time, and remember the storm of passion that roared around,--the tumult
-that was excited! Those parties who seek their own advantage in every
-thing wanted to profit by the solemnity of these trials to occasion
-disorder; this sovereign people, these heroes of the barricades,
-thirsted after the blood of the imprudent ministers of Charles X.;
-shouts and yells were heard recalling the days of horror of the first
-revolution, the national guard was devoid of energy, and the troops of
-the line discouraged by the check they had received at the barricades.
-Matters were in this state, when the chamber of peers was called upon
-to deliberate in the midst of tumult and disorder, and history will
-confess that it proved itself worthy of better times, by refusing to
-sanction the sanguinary vengeance so loudly demanded by the populace.
-Some degree of strength of mind and courage was required, when crowds
-of people, agitated like a troubled sea, threatened to invade the
-Luxembourg and assassinate all the members of the chamber; nevertheless
-the peers resisted, and a sentence of imprisonment alone was
-pronounced, which could hardly be considered as a punishment, because
-in seasons of political troubles, if people escape with their lives,
-there is no doubt that in due time the popular fury will subside, and
-permit their restoration to liberty and civil existence. The prudence
-and talents of M. Pasquier did admirable service to the cause of
-justice and order at this juncture.
-
-It was no doubt to reward the spirit of moderation evinced by the
-peers on this occasion, that the parties made haste to deprive them
-of their right to hereditary succession. The first blow aimed at the
-importance of this assembly was evidently the clause in the charter,
-which annulled the peerages created by Charles X. The peerage was thus
-deprived of its indelible character, it was now no more than an office
-capable of being revoked, and of which one might be deprived almost
-like a prefecture; what sort of aristocracy could be formed of such
-elements? The next step was to take away the hereditary transmission
-of the peerage, _majorats_ were abolished, it was reduced to a mere
-office for life, without power or influence upon the government. From
-the time the peers consented to vote away their hereditary rights,
-they became a mere council of elders, a kind of chapel of ease to the
-chamber of deputies; the chamber of peers was converted into a sort of
-noble hospital, where the wounded among the old political or military
-ranks might seek repose. The chamber of peers no longer possessed
-inviolability, hereditary rank, or property; from henceforth it could
-no longer be an aristocratic body capable of resisting a democratic
-impulse, but its sole greatness must consist in the superiority of
-intelligence, the extensive experience, and great political ability it
-possessed, and which no other body could dispute with it.
-
-Parties were not yet overcome, and a despairing effort had been made
-by the republican party in the streets of Paris: the sword of justice
-still hung suspended over many of the accused, and in virtue of the
-charter all these offences were referred for trial to the chamber of
-peers. It was said at that time in the newspapers, and even at the
-tribune, that these trials would not take place; "It was impossible,"
-repeated they, "that the accused should be summoned before an old
-worn-out body, like the chamber of peers." I must mention that
-M. Pasquier's personal opinion had in the first instance been in
-favour of an amnesty, and he wrote a memorial in which his motives
-were clearly explained, but when the government decided that course
-to be impossible, he comprehended the full extent of his duty as
-a magistrate. People may recollect the firmness, the gravity, the
-patience, even the haughtiness exhibited by the president of the court,
-during these debates; he retained his superiority over these excited
-and straightforward minds, and over the hearts of the young men who
-were animated by patriotism and elevation of feeling. Not a single
-sentence of death was pronounced, all the punishments were mild, and
-the prisoners were able to profit by the amnesty shortly afterwards
-granted to the solicitations of M. Pasquier.
-
-The trial of Fieschi was going on almost at the same time, after the
-atrocious crime which had filled Paris with horror and bloodshed.
-History will, perhaps, deprecate the too great consideration exhibited
-towards Fieschi, and blame the undue attention shewn to that sanguinary
-mountebank, who declaimed at the bar of justice like a street orator.
-One of the prisoners alone had something remarkable in his appearance
-and character; this was the aged Morey, a faithful specimen of the
-old Jacobins, whose erroneous opinions are deserving of pity, because
-he sealed them with his blood. This abuse was remedied in the affair
-of Alibeau, by assigning a subordinate rank to that miserable trial,
-with which the chamber of peers was burdened. On this occasion the
-scene was restrained within due proportions, the reward of celebrity
-was no longer conferred upon all those who dreamed of murder and
-assassination, and the alteration produced so good an effect, that
-during the last trial, that of Meunier, public curiosity was scarcely
-excited, and the crime was abandoned to its proper obscurity.
-
-The great exertions M. Pasquier was compelled to make injured his
-health, but had no effect upon the great qualities of his mind, or
-upon the activity and skill in the management of affairs, which always
-particularly distinguished men of the political party. I believe no
-circumstance of importance has occurred during the last seven years,
-upon which he has not been consulted. It is said he exercised great
-influence on the formation of Casimir Perier's ministry; at all events,
-his habit of preparing memorials, and of examining closely into all the
-circumstances likely to produce any striking effect upon public life,
-has often decided the resolutions of government, and his connexion with
-the cabinet, and with the principal diplomatic characters, has always
-facilitated the direction of affairs. He rarely takes them in hand
-himself, but, like Talleyrand, he makes people act without personally
-appearing; occupying thus, perhaps, a more elevated position than if
-he were openly at the head of the government.
-
-He is a man of great experience and of extreme readiness of mind; add
-to which, I never knew a man more assiduously devoted to his work;
-and it is worthy of remark, that at the very time he was engaged in
-taking part in all the most active and violent questions of government,
-he found leisure to write more than twenty volumes upon the history
-of his own times. His positive determination not to allow any of his
-manuscripts to see the light during his lifetime, and even to forbid
-too early a publication of them after his death, is a sure pledge of
-the perfect independence of men and circumstances, with which he has
-devoted himself to so great a work. This constant habit of occupation,
-and study of facts, enlarges the ideas, and nothing gives a more
-exalted tone to the minds of statesmen. In the present day we are apt
-to throw ourselves into political life without any preliminary study;
-and because we know how to write a few sentences, or that we have
-uttered a few words at the tribune, we consider ourselves equal to
-the task of governing a country. Far different is the English method!
-Political life among our neighbours is a great duty, an entire and
-constant devotion to the subject; history, diplomacy, administration,
-in fact every thing must be learned by a public man who aspires to the
-honour of the ministry, or to a confidential situation for the service
-of his country.
-
-M. Pasquier had attained his sixty-eighth year at the time he was
-invested with the dignity of chancellor of France, he had been
-president of the chamber of peers ever since the revolution of July.
-
-This elevated situation was well suited to a Pasquier, the descendant
-of a family which had held magisterial office for the last two
-centuries, and the present chancellor answers perfectly to the idea his
-ancestors had formed of the office he holds.
-
-There are few men in modern times who, like the magistrates of
-old, devote a certain portion of their leisure hours to study and
-to writing; all their country residences and their thick forests
-are redolent of their recollections and their learning; such are
-Malesherbes, Baville, and Champlâtreux.
-
-M. Pasquier's private life is very simple; he inhabits the apartments
-of the _petit château_ at the Luxembourg, leaving the great palace
-to M. Decaze. No person is easier of access; he speaks rapidly, and
-apprehends and resolves questions with admirable perspicuity; his
-habits are very industrious, and reading is his favourite occupation;
-there is no time thrown away with him, for he contrives to make even
-his visits a matter of business.
-
-Perhaps he has been appreciated as president of the judicial court
-and of the chamber. He exhibits the most perfect impartiality in his
-regulation of the debates in the court of justice. His dislike to
-useless words and lawyers' speeches, which are of no use either to
-direct or enlighten, is very great, and he always exercises a degree
-of firmness without severity, which abridges the proceedings without
-in any way interfering with the defence of the accused. As president
-of the chamber, he never separates himself from an idea or opinion in
-politics: it has been written that the president of a chamber ought not
-to have an opinion, but I think differently, for he is the expression
-of a majority, and essentially the man of a system, and therefore I
-think he ought to form his own opinion; he cannot allow every thing to
-be said or to be done, and it would be very fortunate if the president
-possessed authority to put a stop to all idle debates; we sink under
-the press of words in France, when shall we come to business?
-
-The political school of the restoration, of which M. Pasquier was one
-of the most eminent chiefs, is gradually disappearing; it was the
-heir of the moral and intellectual portion of the empire, and must
-have afforded great strength of support to the Bourbons. Every time
-that adverse parties have seized the reins of government by means
-of its expulsion, the most serious catastrophes have ensued; it is
-fortunate for the existence of kingdoms, and to preserve them from
-dangers occasioned by the prevalence of excitement, that some men of
-sense and reflection still exist, of a calm and prophetic turn of
-mind, who render the transition between one system and another almost
-imperceptible, and contrive that, in our capricious country, the
-only definitive system should have been linked with moderation and a
-constitutional government, which assumes its proper superiority after a
-long struggle of adverse parties.
-
-
-
-
-THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON.
-
-
-The life of the Duke of Wellington forms, for England, a sort of
-epitome of the glorious career of the Tory party. The venerable chief
-of the British armies is not only endowed with extraordinary abilities
-in military operations, he also possesses a cool head in politics,
-and a wise and pre-eminently moderate mind. Few publications have
-produced so deep and lively an impression as the "Despatches of the
-Duke of Wellington, during the various Periods of his Military Command,
-from India to Waterloo." It changed and modified all party opinions
-concerning his character; Whigs and Tories were equally struck with the
-forethought of his measures and the temperate current of his ideas,
-both in the most difficult and the most varied situations, while in
-power as well as during the time of war.
-
-In France, opinions do not progress so fast, and people are still full
-of prejudices concerning the talents and character of this great man.
-The remains of the Buonaparte faction still affect us, and disfigure
-history. His power of organisation and his restoration of the elements
-of society, are not the qualities for which Napoleon's genius is
-considered especially worthy of admiration, but people want to prove
-impossibilities, even to the detriment of his fame; and the Duke of
-Wellington is sacrificed to the resentments inspired by the battle of
-Waterloo. We have been distinguished enough on the field of battle,
-and our country has produced names sufficiently known to fame not
-to make it necessary for us to sacrifice upon the tomb of Napoleon
-all the rival reputations which opposed obstacles to his career. The
-careful perusal of the Duke of Wellington's Despatches first caused me
-to rectify my ideas concerning the man who has both filled the first
-military place in his native land, and has also been, in the present
-times, at the head of a powerful and organising party in the affairs of
-government.
-
-When you study with attention the splendid English engravings that
-represent the misfortunes and downfall of Tippoo Saib, surrounded
-by his mourning family; when you gaze upon the magnificent Indian
-scenery, steaming with heat and moisture, the feathery palm-trees,
-the elephants with their gilded howdahs, the black Sepoys in European
-costume, intermingled with the English troops, whose cool determined
-spirit and military resignation are stamped upon their countenance;
-while in the back-ground appear the high walls of Seringapatam, and
-their heavy cannon breathing forth slaughter and defiance; in these
-scenes, amidst the wreaths of smoke and the gleaming of scimetars, the
-figure of a young officer may be discerned, with a calm countenance,
-quiet and reserved manners, and the meditative look which presages a
-great destiny:--that officer is Sir Arthur Wellesley, since then so
-celebrated as the Duke of Wellington.
-
-Sir Arthur, the fourth son of Gerard Colley Wellesley earl of
-Mornington, and of Anne Hill, daughter of Viscount Duncannon, was born
-at Dungan Castle, on the 1st of May, 1769, one year after that which
-gave birth to Napoleon; it was a period fertile in great geniuses of
-all kinds, who came to humanise and to add greatness to the times of
-the Revolution. Sir Arthur was brought up at Eton, and afterwards went
-to the military college of Angers in France: our country at that time
-possessed the best military establishments and the most frequented
-universities; and I have already observed that Prince Metternich and
-Benjamin Constant were educated at Strasbourg.
-
-Arthur Wellesley entered the army at an early age, and obtained
-a commission in the 41st Foot; in 1793 he purchased the
-lieutenant-colonelcy of the 33d regiment, and made part of the
-expedition to Ostend against the French republic, where he commanded,
-at the age of twenty-four years, a brigade in the retreat from Holland
-under the Duke of York. The English dominions are so vast, that it
-is by no means uncommon to see men even of the noblest families sent
-from one extremity of the earth to the other in the service of their
-country, and young Arthur Wellesley embarked for Jamaica; but the
-fleet was driven back by a tempest, and after recruiting his regiment
-in Ireland, the young officer found his destination had been altered;
-and he was now directed to proceed with it to the banks of the Ganges,
-with his brother, the Marquis Wellesley, who had been appointed
-governor-general of India. He distinguished himself greatly in the
-war with Tippoo, that noble ally of France and of Louis XVI; and was
-present at the taking of Seringapatam, at the head of the auxiliary
-troops furnished by the Nizam; he was afterwards acting as governor of
-the conquered city in 1800, when Dhoondiah Waugh, an Indian adventurer,
-made an incursion into the Company's territory at the head of 5000
-horse.
-
-Imagination carries us back to the times of the "Arabian Nights," when
-we turn our attention upon the power of the English in India, with
-their immense establishments among the Hindoos and Mahrattas, and the
-vast capitals of Calcutta and Madras, almost as highly civilised as
-Paris or London; where habits of extreme softness and indolence prevail
-in the midst of active military life.
-
-Shall we long continue to be dazzled by that fairy land, sparkling with
-diamonds and rubies? I think so; for no government possesses all the
-qualities necessary to insure the colonisation of distant countries
-in so eminent a degree as the noble and elevated system pursued by
-England. People constantly talk of the projects of Russia: what need
-has she of extending her conquests? These are dreams only fit for the
-period of the empire under Napoleon. Russia and England are united by
-the most powerful of all bonds, that of commerce.
-
-Sir Arthur Wellesley distinguished himself in the war against the
-Mahrattas, and was appointed to the command of 12,000 men destined to
-attack the enemy's country. Owing to the sagacity of the measures he
-pursued, in order to secure the movements and subsistence of the troops
-during his long march, he accomplished this difficult campaign, though
-undertaken at a very unfavourable season, with hardly any loss.
-
-Buonaparte at this time occupied Egypt; and it is rather a curious
-circumstance that Sir Arthur's name was suggested for the command of
-the expedition which was to embark from Calcutta, cross the Isthmus
-of Suez, and attack the French in the Desert. Had the appointment
-taken place, young Wellesley would have been called upon, at the
-very commencement of his career, to encounter the General Buonaparte
-whose power as Emperor was finally annihilated by him on the plains
-of Waterloo. The Indian campaign of this year is remarkable, because
-the Company had to encounter the combined forces of Scindiah and the
-Rajah of Becar. They were attacked by Sir Arthur near the fortified
-village of Assaye, which has given its name to the battle. He destroyed
-Scindiah's cavalry, defeated the infantry of the Rajah of Becar on the
-plains of Argaum, and seized the fortress of Gawoneilgar,[32] which
-was quickly followed by the submission of the two chiefs. A monument,
-in memory of the battle of Assaye, was erected at Calcutta. The
-inhabitants of that city presented the victorious general with a sword
-of the value of 1000_l._, and the officers of his army subscribed for a
-golden vase, still preserved by the Duke at Apsley House. The English
-parliament also passed a vote of thanks, and the king conferred upon
-him the order of the Bath. A person should read the first part of the
-Duke of Wellington's Despatches to be able to form a correct idea of
-the perils of this campaign and the precautions necessary to be taken,
-as well as of the moderation and judgment displayed in his orders.
-
- [32] Gawilghur.--_Ed._
-
-The Duke of Wellington thus commenced his military career in India. He
-returned to England in 1805, to take the command of a brigade in the
-army about to proceed to the Continent, under Lord Cathcart; Germany
-being now the destination of the general who had lately gathered
-laurels on the burning plains of Hindostan. The expedition, however,
-was recalled, in consequence of the glorious victory obtained by
-Napoleon at Austerlitz, which caused the death of Mr. Pitt; for in
-England, that country of noble and elevated feelings, the destruction
-of a great enterprise breaks the heart of a statesman. The political
-life of Wellington dates its commencement from this period. The English
-aristocracy are filled with devotion to their country, and the Tories
-enter into her interests with their whole hearts; indeed, it is by
-no means a rare occurrence in England to see a man at the same time
-a member of parliament and employed on active service, for the life
-of Toryism is essentially patriotic. This intermingling of political
-situations and duties with military customs leads to the habits of
-order and method observable in the majorities and minorities that occur
-upon parliamentary questions; people obey their party or their opinions
-as they would their commanding officer. In 1806 the town of Newport, in
-the Isle of Wight, elected Sir Arthur as their representative in the
-House of Commons, and in the same year he married Miss Pakenham, sister
-to the Earl of Longford; shortly after which he was appointed secretary
-to Ireland under the Duke of Richmond. He commanded the reserve of the
-army under Lord Cathcart during the expedition to Copenhagen, which
-occasioned such stormy debates in parliament; and the capitulation of
-the city, an affair discussed, settled, and signed in the course of
-one night, was entrusted to him. By the terms of this capitulation the
-whole of the Danish fleet fell into the hands of the English. Upon this
-occasion an unanimous vote of thanks to the army was passed in both
-houses of parliament, and the Speaker of the House of Commons addressed
-the general individually when he again took his seat after his return
-to England.
-
-The theatre of war was gradually increasing, and, in 1808, Sir Arthur
-received orders to embark for Corunna and oppose the victorious
-armies of France, now assembled under chiefs whose fame resounded
-through the whole of Europe; for Spain had been invaded, and England
-sought to measure her strength in the field with that of Napoleon.
-The fleet was directed towards Oporto, and Sir Arthur effected his
-landing in Portugal in the face of the brave regiments of the great
-army, at the time when Junot was assuming a regal position at Lisbon:
-the monarchy of the house of Braganza appeared at this period like a
-brilliant ring, which was successively fitted on the finger of all the
-adventurous chiefs, despatched as a sort of disgrace to Portugal by
-Napoleon. General Junot compromised the army by his want of capacity
-and his vain pretensions, and the 21st of August was marked by the
-battle of Vimiera, where the attack was commenced by the French. The
-complete destitution of the army rendered a treaty necessary, and by
-the miserable capitulation, called the Convention of Cintra, it was
-agreed that the French should evacuate Portugal and return into France
-with their arms and baggage. Sir Arthur did not sign this convention,
-and the real author of it, Sir Hew Dalrymple, being violently attacked
-by the opposition, Sir Arthur quitted the army to be present at the
-debates, and at the trial of Sir Hew by a court-martial. The Convention
-of Cintra has been greatly blamed by Lord Byron in his poem of "Childe
-Harold." Dalrymple was deprived of his command, and he was succeeded
-by Sir Arthur Wellesley, who landed at Lisbon on the 22d of August,
-1809. By the direction of Napoleon, the most bitter ridicule was
-cast upon him in the _Moniteur_; those wretched declamations against
-his adversaries were a weak and contemptible trait in the emperor's
-character, shewing a spirit of littleness in the midst of all his great
-qualities. The following is the article he dictated in Paris, with a
-mixture of folly and presumption:--
-
-"We are very well pleased Lord Wellington should command the armies,
-for, with the disposition he evinces, he will meet with great
-catastrophes.... Sir John Moore and Lord Wellington shew no symptoms
-of the provident forethought which is so essential a quality in
-warlike operations, which leads people to do nothing but what they can
-maintain, and to undertake nothing but what offers a probability of
-success: Lord Wellington has not shewn more talent than the cabinet
-of St. James's. To attempt to support Spain against France, and to
-enter into a struggle with France upon the Continent, is to form an
-enterprise which will cost dear to those who have attempted it, and
-occasion them nothing but disasters."
-
-It must certainly be admitted, that Sir Arthur had no longer to contend
-with an inexperienced general like Junot, the command of the army of
-Portugal having been conferred upon Marshal Soult, an old soldier, who
-would not fail to display the perfect knowledge of military tactics
-which had raised him to the highest rank in his profession. The
-uncertain battle of Talavera de la Reyna was celebrated in England as a
-most decisive victory; great enthusiasm was excited, and, in spite of
-the speeches of the opposition, a vote of thanks to the English general
-was passed by both houses of parliament, and a pension of 2000_l._ per
-annum was settled upon him; he was also raised to the peerage by the
-title of Viscount Wellington of Talavera. The junta of Cadiz, which
-had hitherto opposed him from motives of pride and national feeling,
-now offered him the rank and allowances of captain-general of the
-Spanish army; but Lord Wellington declined accepting any thing but a
-present of a few horses of the Andalusian breed, which the Spaniards,
-in the name of Ferdinand VII., offered him for his stud. The conduct
-of the commander of the British armies on this occasion was quite in
-keeping with the English character; he considered a few fine horses,
-of a noble breed, as his most distinguished trophy. The rapid march
-of Marshals Soult and Ney from Salamanca into Estramadura compelled
-him to retreat as quickly as he had advanced; he therefore crossed the
-Tagus, and took up a strong position to defend the passage at Almarez
-and the lower part of the river. He was now destined to encounter the
-two most remarkable lieutenants of Napoleon; for Massena, in his turn,
-had entered Portugal, and commenced operations by the sieges of Almeida
-and Ciudad Rodrigo.
-
-The Duke of Wellington, in his old age, takes pleasure in talking over
-the campaign of Portugal at Apsley House, because he there offered a
-powerful resistance to the French army, displayed the most consummate
-strategic skill, and was opposed to the most renowned marshals of the
-empire; first Soult and Massena, and afterwards Marmont, who, though
-skilful in his arrangements, was always unfortunate, and Ney, the
-boldest and most adventurous of them all. The Duke of Wellington has
-caused drawings to be made of the celebrated lines of Torres Vedras,
-whose plan he traced himself, and had executed with a rapidity and
-perseverance that appear almost to belong to fabulous times. They were
-intended to protect Lisbon, and extended from the sea to the Tagus,
-at the point where the river, being about six miles broad, defended
-them as completely as the sea itself. They were constructed with so
-much secrecy, that Marmont was struck with amazement at the sight of
-them; and the English system of tactics, which consists in taking up a
-fortified position, was displayed on this occasion in all its glory.
-The brave Massena passed nearly six months before these lines,--this
-magnificent military work, roaming like a chafed lion desirous of
-engaging with his enemy around these masses of granite, and the waters
-of the great river, almost as vast as the sea. The old general of the
-Italian campaign expected reinforcements from France, but he received
-no assistance either in men or provisions--a circumstance which must
-have rendered his retreat to the frontiers of Spain very difficult to
-accomplish. The Duke of Wellington always does justice to the skill
-of Marshals Soult and Massena; and, in speaking of them in present
-times, he acknowledges them both to have been men of great military
-capacity. The English general again received the thanks of both houses
-of parliament on this occasion; an additional subsidy was voted him,
-and the title of Marquis of Torres Vedras was conferred upon him,
-to perpetuate the memory of the military resistance that had saved
-Portugal.
-
-At this period the English government lavished marks of gratitude upon
-its generals, in order to excite them to fresh acts of self-devotion;
-and England already discerned in the Duke of Wellington a man capable
-of coping with the power of Napoleon. An attempt had been at first made
-to institute a comparison between Admiral Nelson and the Emperor, and
-after his death at Trafalgar the Duke of Wellington succeeded him in
-public estimation; such, at least, was the opinion expressed and acted
-upon by the British parliament.
-
-The English army were guilty of many faults, from the time of the
-blockade of Almeida up to the siege of Badajos; and the battle of
-Fuentes d'Onoro was a severe lesson for their commander. The juntas
-were not favourably disposed towards England, in spite of which Lord
-Wellington had organised the Portuguese army, and placed it on a firm
-military footing; and every thing at Lisbon was already under the
-influence of England, which furnished provisions, artillery, clothing,
-and arms. The Tagus was now occupied by a formidable English fleet,
-and from this time forth the cabinet of London gradually extended its
-influence in the Peninsula; in fact, Lisbon was actually in a state of
-vassalage, and commercial relations contributed their share towards
-strengthening the military bonds which war had imposed with such mighty
-power.
-
-Lord Wellington passed the Tagus to prevent supplies of provisions and
-ammunition being thrown into Ciudad Rodrigo, which was now the central
-point of the military operations; and the city was carried by storm
-after a siege of ten days.[33] Fortune had ceased to smile on Napoleon;
-Massena had been recalled, and Marshal Soult shortly after him, leaving
-Marmont, who was always unfortunate; while the Duke of Wellington, on
-the contrary, had just succeeded in overcoming the repugnance of the
-regency of Cadiz, by whom, after the taking of Badajos,[34] he was
-created a grandee of Spain of the first class, Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo,
-and commander-in-chief of the Spanish army. The English parliament also
-voted him an additional pension of 2000_l._ per annum.
-
- [33] 20th January, 1812.
-
- [34] 7th April, 1812.
-
-Badajos was taken by storm some months after the fall of Ciudad
-Rodrigo, and our eagles veiled their heads before the British armies.
-His flanks being secured, Lord Wellington crossed the Tagus and entered
-Castile; his means were very superior to those of his antagonists;
-besides which the generals did not agree in opinion, and the court was
-totally devoid of energy: Napoleon was not there to interpose his will,
-which bore down all opposition. The battle of Salamanca,[35] which
-decided the fate of Spain, took place shortly after. Lord Wellington
-hastened on, with forced marches, towards Valladolid, and turning
-suddenly to the right he made a bold movement towards Madrid, while
-Joseph Buonaparte retreated to Burgos. I cannot imagine what induced
-Napoleon to send Marshal Jourdan as a military guide to his brother,
-for he was the most inferior of all his captains, and the Emperor had
-greatly ridiculed his first revolutionary successes. Lord Wellington
-again received the thanks of parliament on this occasion, the Prince
-Regent conferred upon him the title of marquis, and the House of
-Commons voted him the sum of 100,000_l_.
-
- [35] 24th July, 1812.
-
-It is necessary to enter into these details to understand the source
-of the political fortune of the Duke of Wellington. We here see that
-all his rank, his honours, even his income, are derived from the field
-of battle. The rewards granted by parliament were profuse, because it
-was of the highest importance to create a military existence capable
-of opposing the wonderful fortunes of Napoleon. At this time, Marshal
-Soult, who had raised the siege of Cadiz and abandoned Andalusia,
-made so well-arranged a movement in concert with the main body of
-General Souham's army, that Lord Wellington's line of communication
-was compromised; he was compelled to make a precipitate retreat, and
-Marshal Soult resumed a glorious offensive position.
-
-The English general having here forgotten the prudent system he usually
-observed, for two days his whole army was exposed to the enemy, and
-it is evident, from this circumstance, that the Duke of Wellington's
-talent for defensive measures was greater than for an active military
-campaign.[36] He never appeared to understand how to observe an exact
-medium between the well-considered temerity, which seizes upon a fault
-for the chance it affords of success, and the prudence which foresees
-all the chances that may occur, even in a bad position.
-
- [36] Witness Assaye, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajos, Vittoria,
- &c.--_Editor._
-
-In order to complete the deliverance of the Peninsula, Lord Wellington
-in January 1813, repaired to Cadiz, to communicate in person with
-the regency; by this step all doubts were dispelled, and the Spanish
-army, after being better organised, was placed under his immediate
-command. He was tenaciously regardful of his title of generalissimo,
-and explained his plan for the campaign at the head of the combined
-army of England, Spain, and Portugal, as far as Vittoria, where the
-battle took place which was so fatal to our arms in the Peninsula,
-and where every thing was taken by the English, even to the treasure
-of Joseph Buonaparte. The utter incapacity of Marshal Jourdain, and
-the avidity of some of the French generals, were among the principal
-causes of this misfortune; and the efforts made to save the treasure
-occasioned the destruction of the army. All the family of Napoleon, by
-whom he was surrounded, being incapable of comprehending his glory,
-only served to endanger his fortune; and when the day of misfortune
-has arrived, what power can arrest the torrent? The battle of Vittoria
-procured for Lord Wellington the elevated rank of field-marshal, so
-rarely conferred in England; and it opened the road of the Pyrenees to
-the Coalition. It was when approaching Pampeluna and St. Sebastian,
-that the English general unfolded his plan of carrying the war into
-France. Soult had again taken the command of the French troops on the
-Bidassoa; for Napoleon had found it necessary to despatch from the
-field of Bautzen, a marshal of skill and ability to the point most
-threatened with danger, and the army in Spain was in a state of utter
-confusion. Lord Wellington extended his line to Bayonne, after having
-carried the position of Nivelle: it was certainly a wonderful war,
-full of strategy! Marshal Soult displayed great skill in the manner in
-which he manœuvred before a superior force, which only advanced when
-prudence permitted; and thus the two armies remained for nearly two
-months, watching each other's motions, but prevented by the severity of
-the season, and the dreadful state of the roads, from proceeding any
-farther. Soult made an attempt to imitate the lines of Torres Vedras
-on the frontiers of France, and erected formidable intrenchments near
-Bayonne; but Lord Wellington, without attacking them in front, turned
-them by the right, and thus compelled his antagonist to abandon them.
-
-The name of France inspired even the Allies with so much respect,
-that they could not avoid a feeling of hesitation as to entering
-her territories. When, however, we look back upon the early ages of
-the French monarchy, we find that English troops had more than once
-distinguished themselves on the plains of Gascony; and the exploits of
-the Black Prince are interwoven with the feudal history of Guienne.
-The Emperor's orders to Marshal Soult were to retreat very slowly, and
-to endeavour as far as possible to avert the progress of the English,
-Spanish, and Portuguese troops, by constant skirmishes. He had himself
-entered into a treaty with Ferdinand VII., in the hope of separating by
-this means the Spanish army from the Anglo-Portuguese force under Lord
-Wellington.
-
-Matters were, however, too far advanced to admit of the realisation
-of these political plans, for the Pyrenees were already passed. After
-the battle of Orthes the French army was unable to maintain the road
-to Bourdeaux, and Lord Wellington, in concert with Marshal Beresford,
-was obliged to give a decided opinion concerning the inclination
-in favour of the Bourbons, which began to manifest itself in the
-southern provinces. On this occasion he assumed a political position
-for the first time; until now he had been merely a general officer,
-exhibiting some degree of dexterity in his negotiations with the junta
-of Cadiz, but the events of 1814 were evidently assuming a decisive
-character fraught with great importance. Would he be justified in
-giving a political impulse in favour of the restoration of Louis
-XVIII., and what were the orders of his government on this subject when
-the Allies were engaged in negotiation at Chaumont? Lord Wellington
-permitted the full and energetic manifestation of the public feeling;
-and Marshal Beresford made no objections to the white flag being
-hoisted. The empire was gradually declining from the northern to the
-southern extremity of the kingdom; and letters were received from Lord
-Castlereagh, informing the chief of the English armies of the events
-that had taken place in Paris. The battle of Toulouse was fought a few
-days afterwards, a melancholy and useless sacrifice of human life,--for
-it was incapable of arresting the progress of the coalesced armies;
-in fact, all was now over, the restoration was completed, and Louis
-XVIII. in the act of re-entering his capital. The English remained in
-possession of Toulouse, and the peace of 1814 was concluded by all the
-allied powers.
-
-Lord Wellington took no part in this treaty, for he was then possessed
-of no political influence, his life being entirely military; and Lord
-Castlereagh, then at the head of the cabinet, was not inclined to yield
-his ministerial influence to any one. When, however, the congress was
-assembled at Vienna, the Duke of Wellington, who had been received with
-the utmost enthusiasm in England, attended this meeting of crowned
-heads, to exhibit the grandeur of his country, and recall to mind
-the services he had rendered to the common cause. The talent he had
-displayed in the Peninsular war, and the perseverance he had exhibited
-during that long struggle, had cast a halo round his person, and
-greatly excited the public curiosity concerning him. He was at that
-time forty-five years of age, cold and reserved in his manners, but
-attaching some value to the attention shewn him by some of the ladies
-at Vienna; an immense number of entertainments were given to him, and
-it is well known that no city in Europe offers so many resources for
-those inclined to pleasure and dissipation.
-
-In the midst of all these amusements the congress was startled by the
-fall of the thunderbolt,--news was received of the landing of Napoleon
-in the gulf of Juan! It was necessary immediate recourse should be had
-to military measures, and without a moment's hesitation the direction
-of the operations was entrusted to the Duke of Wellington, as the
-person most capable of opposing Napoleon; besides which, as Great
-Britain gave the impulse to the European league, it was necessary to
-give her a pledge of their sincerity, and the title of generalissimo,
-conferred upon the Duke, was undoubtedly due to him, in consideration
-of the subsidies which the English parliament were about to vote for
-the advantage of Europe. After a hurried journey to England, Wellington
-returned with all speed to the Low Countries, to decide in concert
-with Field-marshal Blucher upon the plan of his campaign; and when
-opposed to the powerful army of Napoleon, he followed the same system
-he had been accustomed to pursue in Spain; that is to say, he assumed a
-defensive attitude, in a well-chosen position. His military reputation
-had commenced with the lines of Torres Vedras, and was destined to
-reach its zenith at Waterloo;--thus shewing that the whole of a man's
-destiny is sometimes comprehended between two ideas.
-
-I shall not enter here into military details, but content myself
-with observing that the battle of Waterloo was a perfect type of the
-system pursued by two men whose military capacities were entirely
-dissimilar--the Emperor and the Duke of Wellington. Napoleon was
-impetuous, actually sublime, when advancing to attack his enemy; but
-disordered and devoid of reflection in a retreat. The Duke, on the
-contrary, was timid, watchful, and undecided during an active campaign,
-to such a degree that he endangered the safety of his troops whenever
-he attempted a bold movement; but he was at the same time cool and
-collected, and accustomed to avail himself of every advantage when
-acting on the defensive. The attack made by Buonaparte at Waterloo
-recalled the battles of Wagram and Austerlitz, while the Duke of
-Wellington again saw the lines of Torres Vedras in the intrenched
-position of Mont St. Jean.
-
-The influence of the Duke of Wellington naturally increased after
-this great battle; he was advancing at the head of a victorious army,
-and though Blucher did not actually fill a subordinate situation, yet
-the Duke, from his being covered with the glory of Waterloo, could
-not fail to exercise a considerable influence over the mind of the
-Prussian generalissimo. At last, when they approached Paris, all the
-revolutionary party, with Fouché at their head, came to meet the Duke,
-considering him as the supreme arbiter, whose word was to decide upon
-the fate of France. Fouché opened an active negotiation with him for
-the occupation of France; and the noble Duke, in a conversation with
-Louis XVIII., recommended the ministry of Talleyrand and Fouché, as the
-only one capable of bringing about an union between royalty and the
-liberty obtained by the revolution. Was the Duke mistaken? or was he
-duped? Whichever may have been the case, the coalition fell to pieces
-almost immediately, and the powerful and long-continued ascendency
-of Lord Castlereagh and the English government was replaced by the
-personal influence of the Emperor Alexander. Talleyrand was succeeded
-by the Duke de Richelieu.
-
-By the treaty concluded in the month of November 1815, it had been
-stipulated that an army of occupation should remain in France; and
-it was placed under the command of the Duke of Wellington, without
-making any distinction among the contingents furnished by the different
-powers. He was also appointed inspector of the fortresses in the Low
-Countries, which were erected as advanced posts against France, and
-with the money levied upon her. The generalissimo resided in Paris,
-where he saw a good deal of Louis XVIII.; and his English principles
-were in perfect agreement with a system of moderation and freedom. He
-possessed an honest and upright heart, and a habit of judging with ease
-and simplicity of the state of events; and we must do him the justice
-to say, that when on various occasions he was constituted arbiter of
-the claims of the Allies, he almost invariably gave his opinion in
-favour of our unfortunate country. Even when he was consulted, more
-than once, upon the possibility of diminishing the army of occupation,
-he declared that the state of the public mind in France would permit
-this relief to be granted, which the suffering condition of the country
-rendered imperatively necessary. At this period, when the Duke of
-Wellington was engaged in rendering us most essential service, the
-Buonapartist spirit armed a fanatic against his life, and a pistol
-was fired actually into his carriage. The Duke escaped unhurt; and I
-deeply regret that Napoleon, in his will written at St. Helena, should
-have degraded himself to such a degree as to award a recompense to the
-miscreant who had thus attacked his former military adversary. Conduct
-like this communicates a stain which cannot be effaced even from the
-most renowned characters in history.
-
-After the departure of the army of occupation, and the signing of
-the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, the Duke of Wellington quitted Paris;
-his military career was at an end, and his political life may be
-said to have just begun: having been raised to a seat in the House
-of Peers,[37] with the rank of duke, in the enjoyment of an immense
-fortune, and decorated with the stars of every order of knighthood in
-Europe, he could hardly fail of possessing a considerable degree of
-influence. But the order of things was now changed in England: during
-the long wars against the French Revolution and Empire, the English
-had shewn extreme energy, and had made great and very judicious use
-of their powerful means, thus enabling the Tories to overcome all the
-difficulties presented by their situation; they were successful because
-they were strongly opposed to all revolutionary principles, and firmly
-resolved to carry out the war. The people had then no time to think of
-internal dissensions, they were breathlessly engaged in incessantly
-recurring struggles, and always hoping for victory; but now that the
-war was at an end, passions were reawakened, and Lord Castlereagh saw
-his power gradually declining, while that of the Whigs and Radicals was
-progressively increasing.
-
- [37] He had long had a seat in the House of Peers, but the mistake
- is very natural for a foreigner.--_Editor._
-
-The Duke of Wellington was a Tory upon principle and family precedent;
-he took his seat in the House of Peers among the Conservatives; and he
-and Lord Aberdeen formed the centre of the Tory benches that supported
-Lord Castlereagh's ministry. He was not an eloquent speaker, but he
-expressed himself with great clearness and precision; and, without
-being a man of a very enlarged mind, he was gifted with an instinctive
-good sense, that enabled him to form an accurate judgment of the
-generality of questions; while, at the same time, he was perfectly _au
-fait_ of the political occurrences and situations of Europe, for he had
-taken a part in too many affairs of importance not to have retained
-a deep impression of them. In short, the Duke of Wellington, as a
-statesman, was less distinguished for the _great_ than for the _good_
-things he had done. His popularity was now on the decline; the time had
-passed away when his carriage was surrounded by crowds of people on his
-return to England after his campaigns, for the Hero of Waterloo was too
-staunch a Tory to be a favourite with the populace. The queen's trial
-had excited public opinion in the highest degree, and every thing was
-progressing rapidly towards reform.
-
-Under circumstances like these, the Duke had little political influence
-except in the diplomatic circle; but he found himself mixed up with
-all the serious continental affairs, in consequence of the important
-part he had formerly played; and he was present at the congress of
-Verona. He preserved a certain degree of influence in foreign affairs
-during Mr. Canning's ministry, although the Whig party was in the
-ascendant. Russia appeared at this time likely to become the rival of
-England; the Greek question caused considerable public excitement, and
-difficulties existed as to fixing the new boundaries of the Hellenic
-territory. Mr. Canning, therefore, considered it necessary a person
-of great consideration should be sent to St. Petersburg, and the Duke
-of Wellington, being held in high estimation by the Emperor Nicholas,
-and having also been actively engaged in most of the questions of
-general interest, it was decided that his mission should be attached
-to the treaty of the sixth of July, which established the independence
-of Greece, and settled her territorial boundaries. It had become
-necessary the business should be finally decided; and as, in England,
-strong prejudices against individuals are never indulged in when
-business is at stake, the Duke of Wellington was selected as being the
-person most capable of being useful.
-
-When he returned to England Mr. Canning was dead; Lord Goderich's
-ministry was struggling feebly with the difficulties it had to
-encounter, and as diplomatic matters were assuming a singularly
-complicated appearance, the king thought it advisable to form a
-Tory ministry of men of capacity and experience. It was composed of
-Mr. Peel, Lord Aberdeen, and the Duke of Wellington; and peculiarly
-adapted for resisting any encroachments on the part of Russia. When
-the Duke came seriously to examine into the state of the country, he
-was convinced that one of the first steps necessary to secure the
-efficiency and consistency of his ministry was the emancipation of
-the Catholics. This had long been a favourite idea in his family; and
-Marquis Wellesley[38] had formerly detached himself from George III.
-on this very question. The Duke had no hesitation as to the course
-he was to pursue, and a bill presented to parliament was passed by a
-majority; the Tories were desirous of the glory of originating so just
-and equitable a measure.[39]
-
- [38] Upon this occasion the Duke of Wellington voted against his
- brother's measure.--_Editor._
-
- [39] The editor begs to remind the reader that he is not answerable
- for M. Capefigue's opinions.
-
-The revolution of July, some months afterwards, struck a fatal blow to
-the heart of the Tories; for Radical opinions were already obtaining
-great influence in England. The Duke hastened to recognise the events
-that had taken place, but in his own mind he qualified the proceedings
-with the epithet _untoward_--the same expression he had used concerning
-the battle of Navarino. Had not every thing been overturned and
-altered by this revolution? How, then, was it possible for the Duke
-to contend with a political system which threatened to destroy the
-treaties concluded in 1815? He comprehended the full consequences of
-this change,--nor did he attempt to avert them; but, on the first
-occasion of an equivocal majority, he sent in his resignation, and
-gave up his situation to Lord Grey and the Whigs. As in England all
-political characters are independent of their position, they resign
-it without regret, even for some incidental circumstance. The Duke
-then placed himself at the head of the Conservative party, and of the
-enlightened Tories in the House of Lords; assuming there about the
-same situation as Mr. Peel in the House of Commons. Conservative and
-Tory signify in England men of worth and consistency, who venerate
-the ancient institutions of their country, and do not wish them to
-be interfered with; and it is certainly a magnificent ground for a
-statesman to take up, for he places himself as a barrier to oppose
-all the storms raised by parties. The Duke's Conservative principles
-made him averse to the plan of reform that attacked the ancient
-constitution of England: he continued to observe this steadfastness
-of opinion in the House of Lords; and when, in 1833, the continental
-question again became perplexed, the king proposed forming another
-ministry, in which he was to be included; but on this occasion, with an
-admirable appreciation of existing circumstances, Mr. Peel was placed
-at the head of the cabinet, and the noble Duke only filled a secondary
-place. He considered that a name belonging to the commonalty, like
-that of Mr. Peel, was better suited to the juncture than that of the
-Duke of Wellington or the Earl of Aberdeen. In consequence of this
-arrangement the Duke found himself completely eclipsed by Mr. Peel,
-and he appeared only to have been included in the ministry that he
-might act as its representative in the House of Lords: as it has been
-remarked by an English political writer, he certainly did not form its
-basis, whatever strength and consideration he might have brought to its
-assistance.
-
-Peel's ministry was not of long duration; and the Tories were certainly
-guilty of an oversight in forming this ephemeral cabinet, for nothing
-more deeply injures a party than abortive efforts, or attempts which
-are not crowned with success. The Duke of Wellington resumed his place
-in the House of Lords, and spoke with seriousness and moderation upon
-all the questions of importance that came before them. As I have
-before observed, strong good sense, and clear reasoning, are the
-qualities for which he is especially distinguished, and which carry
-every thing before them. His manner of expressing himself is quiet
-and serious; and he is always listened to with respect and attention.
-His private life is essentially military; and at Apsley House he is
-surrounded by pictures of all his battles, from India to Waterloo.
-His favourite campaign is that of the Peninsula; and one might say
-that the recollections of his youth, under the exhilarating sky of
-the south of Europe, are intermingled with it. The Duke likes the old
-friends, and the society that reminds him of his military adventures;
-he is also very intimate with the _corps diplomatique_, and entertains
-magnificently,--displaying all the splendour of an immense fortune
-and the grandeur of the English aristocracy. Sometimes he speaks with
-bitterness of his past popularity contrasted with the feelings evinced
-towards him in later times; and he has more than once called attention
-to the windows of his palace, now defended by iron gratings against the
-violence of the mob, who threw stones against his windows and into his
-splendidly decorated apartments. "What a contrast!" said he to Pozzo
-di Borgo, in 1834. "Recollect, my dear friend, my popularity after the
-battle of Waterloo, and my entry into London in the year 1815; and now
-see how completely I am out of favour with these people!"
-
-The Duke of Wellington likes to be compared to Marlborough and
-Nelson--the two most illustrious of English heroes; but he avoids all
-comparison with Napoleon, for their two careers are neither on the same
-scale nor can be measured by the same proportion.
-
-The Duke of Wellington, a general essentially attached to the defensive
-system, always knew how to select a favourable position; received
-battle, but very rarely gave it. Every time that he ventured on bold
-measures he was guilty of imprudence; and he only shewed himself
-eminently superior when acting on the defensive.[40] Napoleon, on
-the contrary, was bold and magnificent in the attack; his plans were
-cleverly laid, and were the result of a sudden inspiration,--his
-wonderful genius enabled him to modify them according to circumstances;
-but at the slightest reverse Napoleon was cast down, and his retreat
-was almost always a flight: though his attack was made in the most
-brilliant manner, he knew not how to resist; and in this he personified
-the military genius of the French nation, from the times of Cressy and
-Agincourt. I think it necessary to repeat this parallel, as it is the
-only one that it is possible to draw between Napoleon and the Duke
-of Wellington. Nelson was the only Englishman who carried into naval
-warfare the spirit exhibited by Napoleon in the continental war. Had
-the Emperor lived to the age of the Duke, it would have been curious to
-compare these two great characters at the extreme point of existence.
-
- [40] See Note, page 208.--_Editor._
-
-Since the revolution of 1830, the history of parties and statesmen
-has been greatly developed; Whigs and Tories have in turn been at
-the helm--Lord Grey, Lord Palmerston; Mr. Peel, and Lord Aberdeen;
-affording opportunities of forming a more correct judgment of the
-character and personal value of each. The Tories have now returned into
-power with Mr. Peel and Lord Aberdeen; but the Duke would not accept
-any office beyond a sort of patronage over the House of Lords.
-
-A parallel may now be drawn between the Whigs and Tories, embracing
-the most distinguished characters among both. Lord Grey left all his
-celebrity as a leader of the opposition, to become a minister of
-mediocrity at the head of the government. Lord Palmerston exhibited so
-much emptiness and folly in his adventurous attempt at liberalism, as
-to lose all his consistency in England. The Tories on the contrary,
-have retained two men of high consideration, whose reputation is
-unblemished, viz. Mr. Peel and Lord Aberdeen. No man can equal the
-chief of the Tory party in his clear and perspicuous manner of speaking
-of business; and the Earl of Aberdeen possesses in an eminent degree
-a knowledge of foreign affairs and a most extensive acquaintance with
-facts: and this, in truth, constitutes the superiority and the seal of
-the Tory party.
-
-People generally mistake the Duke of Wellington's character, by
-supposing him to feel a dislike to France; on the contrary, he has many
-feelings quite in agreement with our national character and history.
-The Tories, to a greater degree than the Whigs, are persuaded that the
-predominance of France is necessary for the balance of power in Europe;
-they seek all occasions to give a proof of this opinion, and are often
-grieved at the prejudices which exist at the bottom of our character
-against the politics of their cabinet.
-
-The Duke of Wellington has now reached the advanced age of seventy-four
-years, and he seldom speaks in the House of Lords; but when he does
-so his speeches are always worthy of attention, for his words carry
-with them the importance due to the opinion of a consummate statesman.
-His career, which began at so early an age in the burning climate of
-India, has been already several times endangered by sudden attacks
-of illness, from which he has recovered,--thanks to the strength of
-his constitution. Constantly accustomed to be employed, he himself
-corrected the proof sheets of his Despatches, which not only place
-him in the front rank as a _strategic_ writer, but also award him an
-elevated position in the scale of minds imbued with the principles of
-order, government, and administration. Let us repeat it, three men form
-a summary of the career of the Tories; Mr. Peel for the administration,
-Lord Aberdeen for foreign affairs, and the Duke of Wellington for
-military glory and renown. All these three are men of powerful minds.
-
-
-
-
-THE DUC DE RICHELIEU.
-
-
-Among the admirable works that have emanated from the pencil of
-Lawrence, the reader must have observed a countenance with a melancholy
-expression, and a high forehead shaded by locks prematurely blanched;
-the mild intelligent eyes, delicate nose, and firmly compressed mouth,
-are indicative of a mind of a superior order, but at the age of
-scarcely fifty years this countenance, whose nobleness and simplicity
-of expression are remarkable, conveys the idea of a man worn out with
-the troubles and anxieties of life; and I may almost add, by whom
-its vanities and illusions are viewed in their true colours. It is a
-mixture of the Frenchman of noble descent, and of the highest Russian
-nobility, who live so fast. This portrait was painted by Lawrence
-at Aix-le-Chapelle, and the original was distinguished during his
-childhood by the title of Comte de Chinon; in youth he was called Duc
-de Fronsac, and he finally inherited the title of Duc de Richelieu.
-
-The political systems of all ages are personified by certain
-statesmen, who were their representatives. Since the commencement of
-the eighteenth century, France has been constantly placed between two
-preponderating interests; these are, 1st, an alliance with England,
-effected during the regency, and overturned by Louis XV. at Fontenoy;
-then resumed by the treaties of 1783 and 1785; again broken by the
-convention, with expressions of contempt and violence, in 1793; renewed
-for a moment under Talleyrand in 1814, when it was destroyed by the
-personal influence of the Emperor Alexander; and finally restored for
-a short time in 1833, by the feeble treaty between France, England,
-Spain and Portugal. 2dly, the Russian alliance, of more modern date,
-though naturally very suitable to the interests of France. It was first
-attempted by means of the embassy of M. de Ségur, under Louis XVI.;
-was restored by Napoleon at Erfurt, until the disastrous campaign of
-Moscow; resumed in 1815, and supported by the ministries of the Duc
-de Richelieu in 1816, and M. de la Ferronays in 1828, until Prince
-Polignac brought back the English system. After the revolution of July
-the diplomatic projects of Prince Polignac were resumed, with this sole
-difference, that Talleyrand attempted with the Whigs what the ministers
-of Charles X. had endeavoured to effect with the Tories.
-
-I am about to write the life of the Duc de Richelieu as the
-personification of the Russian alliance, which I shall consider in all
-its various stages, from the period of the Restoration; and this is an
-era of very great importance in diplomatic history, for we are living
-under the treaties of 1814 and 1815. Those concluded at Vienna, at
-Aix-la-Chapelle, at Troppau, and Laybach, form the basis of our present
-relations with the rest of Europe.
-
-Armand Emanuel du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu, well known in his early
-youth under the name of Comte de Chinon, was born at Paris on the 25th
-of September, 1766; his father was the Duc de Fronsac, son of the
-old Marshal Richelieu, and his mother was a daughter of the house of
-Hautefort. Paris was full of the endowments of his ancestor the great
-cardinal, whose purple robe was the glory of his family; and it was
-at the college of Plessis, founded by him, that the Comte de Chinon
-first commenced his education, and was tolerably successful in his
-studies, especially in acquiring the various languages of Europe; for
-he learned to speak Italian, German, and English with facility, and
-at a later period Russian became as familiar to him as French. At the
-age of fourteen he was married to a daughter of the noble house of
-Rochechouart, and the young count and his little wife, who was just
-thirteen years of age, went to travel for some years, according to the
-custom that prevailed at that time among families of rank: he visited
-Italy, the country of the fine arts, to admire the works of the old
-masters, and the ancient cities, whose renown had once overspread the
-world. On the first breaking out of our domestic troubles the young
-nobleman hastened to offer his services to his menaced sovereign, and
-on the 5th and 6th of October, 1789, he proceeded on foot and alone
-to Versailles, and making his way through the assembled mob of ragged
-men and women, he went to warn the court of the danger with which it
-was threatened. As if in anticipation of his future diplomatic career,
-Louis XVI. employed him a few days afterwards on a mission to Joseph
-II., a sovereign who patronised reform; and he discharged it with the
-silent discretion so necessary to be observed in the relations of the
-king with foreigners, at a time when he was so closely watched and
-surrounded by the spies of the people. The Comte de Chinon, under the
-title of Duc de Fronsac, was already distinguished for the uprightness
-of his character; political intrigues did not suit his frank and open
-disposition, and he therefore quitted Vienna and hastened to the siege
-of Ismael, celebrated by Lord Byron in his poem of "Don Juan." Many of
-the French nobility were serving in the armies of Catherine II., and
-the Duc de Fronsac fought by the side of Count Roger de Damas at the
-taking of the redoubt, where, according to the sarcastic rhymes of the
-poet, the cannon that thundered upon the besiegers were as numerous as
-the lovers of the licentious empress. The Duc de Fronsac was slightly
-wounded, and Catherine sent him a gold-hilted sword and the order of
-St. George. He also accepted the rank of Colonel in the Russian army,
-when he inherited the illustrious title of Richelieu upon the death of
-his father.
-
-When Monsieur, afterwards Louis XVIII., made an appeal to the old
-and noble families among his countrymen, calling upon them to serve
-under the white banner, the Duc de Richelieu joined the army assembled
-to fight for the ancient crown of France; and after the unfortunate
-termination of the campaign of 1792, when the Prince of Condé requested
-an asylum in Russia for the French exiles, he was despatched by the
-Empress Catherine to arrange with the Prince the plan of a colony, to
-be established on the shores of the sea of Azof: it was to consist
-entirely of men of birth, and this idea was of some service when
-the noble foundation of Odessa took place; but in a military crisis
-like this, how was it possible to conceive and follow out a project
-involving a regular system of administration?
-
-At the siege of Valenciennes by the coalesced armies, the Duc de
-Richelieu commanded a company of men of noble birth. There was
-something glorious and honourable in this emigration, which followed
-the fortunes of the royal banner as their ancestors had done that of
-Henry IV; and we must not judge their proceedings according to our
-little party prejudices. After the victorious republic had reconquered
-her frontiers he returned to Russia, and became colonel of a cuirassier
-regiment; but the Emperor Paul was then on the throne, and with his
-usual harshness and brutality of disposition he punished the Duke for
-his personal attachment to the Czarewitch Alexander, by depriving him
-of his regiment; he even went so far as to forbid him to appear at St.
-Petersburg: for with a degree of imperial egotism the Czar expected
-devotion should be exhibited to himself alone. Such being the cause
-of his exile, it is hardly necessary to say, that on the accession of
-Alexander he was restored to his former rank, with every mark of the
-sovereign's favour; and the esteem and confidence entertained for him
-by Alexander, at this early period, was of the greatest service to
-France during the events that took place in the year 1815. Even then
-the Duke was fully sensible of the importance of an alliance between
-France and Russia, two countries whose interests are constantly meeting
-without its being possible they should clash; but at this time people
-could not even dream of the restoration of the royal dynasty--no event
-could appear less likely to occur.
-
-After peace was concluded with Russia in 1801, the Duke took the
-opportunity of returning to France and collecting the remains of the
-enormous fortune of his ancestors, for the sake of paying the debts of
-his father and grandfather, both of whom had greatly involved their
-patrimony by their insane prodigality: this was his _sole_ object; and
-he abandoned the whole of his rights to the creditors, retaining for
-himself nothing of that immense inheritance. It was certainly giving
-evidence of a most noble disposition! The Duc de Richelieu, prime
-minister of Louis XVIII., and great-nephew of the celebrated cardinal,
-did not himself possess an income of more than 20,000 francs![41]
-
-[41] About 800_l._
-
-Buonaparte was at the summit of his consular glory when the illustrious
-name of Richelieu was presented to him; and he who attached a great
-value to names of historic celebrity, and who was also a great admirer
-of the iron-handed minister, offered the Duke employment in his army:
-but he refused it, and is it possible to blame him for so doing?
-He was a man of high and ancient descent, warmly attached to the
-House of Bourbon, and resolved not to serve in a French army except
-under the royal banner: his refusal, however, rendered it necessary
-he should immediately quit Paris; and on his return to the Emperor
-Alexander he was entrusted with the execution of rather a difficult
-task, being appointed to the government of the southern portion of
-that immense empire. All the provinces on the borders of the Black
-Sea had been converted into uncultivated deserts by the ravages of
-war, and the barbarous ignorance of the Mussulman inhabitants rendered
-them incapable of repairing the mischief--in fact, the old Roman
-colonies of the Palus Meotides no longer existed except in name; and
-in repeopling this desert, the closest and most careful surveillance
-was necessary for the purpose of introducing European customs and
-civilisation. In the beginning of 1803, the Duke was appointed Governor
-of Odessa, and he was afterwards employed in the general administration
-of New Russia--a country where the climate is mild and genial, and
-which is like Italy, only devoid of the arts and of cultivation:
-institutions had been commenced, but nothing was completed, and in a
-city of considerable extent there were hardly 5000 inhabitants.[42]
-M. de Richelieu, without the slightest hesitation, had recourse
-to the measures necessary for improving this state of things, even
-though he sometimes offended ancient customs and selfish interests;
-but it is only by means of absolute power that great reforms can be
-accomplished. Every thing appeared to have received new life; commerce,
-set free from the bonds by which she was before shackled, made a rapid
-advance, and the population of Odessa was in a short time doubled. The
-administration of the governor extended from the vast countries of the
-Dniester to the Kouban and the Caucasus; and the colonies of German
-Anabaptists, by whom more than one hundred villages were peopled, first
-set the example of agriculture upon the most enlightened system, so
-that, in a short time, immense fields of corn displayed their waving
-verdure on plains which, formerly, scarcely afforded to the Tartars
-pasturage for their cattle.
-
- [42] Now about 80,000.--_Ed._
-
-It became necessary to establish a sort of feudal system to defend the
-country against the invasions of the Circassians, armed, as in the time
-of the Crusades, with golden helms and knightly mail; and the Duke,
-brave, devoted to his undertaking, and desirous of glory, became the
-military chieftain of the colony. It was impossible the establishments
-on the Black Sea should attain their full greatness until Circassia
-should have submitted to the Russian government; this conquest the
-Russian cabinet is at present accomplishing.[43]
-
- [43] The government of Odessa includes the island of Taman, and
- part of the Caucasian line, inhabited by the Cossacks of the Black
- Sea, who were settled on the Lower Kouban by Potemkin, as a defence
- against the incursions of the Circassians; forming a chain of
- intrenched villages, sufficiently near to communicate by signals,
- and supported by some regiments of infantry and artillery. The
- Circassians have never been able to make any serious impression on
- this line; and the Russians, whose object was purely defensive,
- never even crossed the Kouban with an intention of permanently
- establishing themselves beyond the river till the conclusion of
- the last Turkish war, during which Anapa, and all other forts
- possessed by the Turks on the Black Sea, were ceded to Russia.
- The Circassians had only tolerated these nominal dependencies of
- Turkey, as affording convenient points of trade and export for
- the slaves captured from Russia and Georgia, as well as those
- taken during their own domestic wars. The natural strength of
- the country and its deadly climate have hitherto checked the
- Russian conquests, but, sooner or later, it must yield to a power
- capable of sending unlimited reinforcements, while every action
- permanently diminishes the strength of the mountain tribes. The
- war, which has now lasted sixty years, can have no effect on the
- prosperity of the southern provinces of Russia, nor is it felt
- twenty miles from the frontier. The few Circassians that have
- been educated in Russia are not permitted to return to the tribes.
- The Caucasian guard formed by Prince Paskewitch in 1830, and who
- return periodically to their own country, may have a much greater
- effect; they are taken indiscriminately from all the tribes,
- Circassians, Lesghis, Chechens, and Ossatinians, forming a body
- of about two hundred men, in some measure resembling the Mamelukes
- of Napoleon.--_Editor._
-
-To set a limit to the depredations of the Circassians, the governor
-was repeatedly compelled to penetrate into their mountains at the head
-of some Russian regiments; he neglected nothing that could lead to
-the diffusion of the benefits of European society in that barbarous
-country, and several young Circassians, whom the fortune of war or
-other events had placed in his hands, were carefully educated under his
-superintendence, instructed in our arts, accustomed to our manners,
-and then restored to their homes to dwell among their countrymen,
-whose customs and habits might be softened and improved by their
-example: such was the custom of the ancient Romans with regard to
-their vanquished nations. This active administration continued during
-the plague which devastated Odessa in the year 1813; and the Duke
-then displayed the utmost firmness and energy, though he was obliged
-more than once to have recourse to the military power, which in Russia
-is always confounded with the civil administration. But it would
-be necessary to visit Odessa to form a just estimate of all he has
-effected there; he appeared to have inherited the creative genius of
-the great cardinal.
-
-A new field soon opened before him. The events of 1814 had brought
-about the restoration of the Bourbons, and the influence of the Emperor
-Alexander reigned paramount over the proceedings of the senate which
-prepared the fall of Napoleon. Louis XVIII., who was a prince of a
-touchy disposition, and very ceremonious habits, had but very little
-inclination for the Duc de Richelieu, for he could not forgive his
-having preferred filling a high and important situation in Russia to
-the dignity of an attendant upon his exiled person; nevertheless, he
-restored the peerage to his family, as well as the situation of first
-_gentilhomme du roi_. The Duke was not in office during the first
-restoration, and he employed himself in studying the new spirit that
-had arisen in his country, after so many domestic troubles; for he was
-sufficiently aware of the state of affairs to comprehend that events
-exercise an irresistible power in the modification of the character,
-and that when a person is desirous of bringing a revolution to a close,
-it is necessary to make incessant concessions to men and circumstances,
-and submit to unavoidable acts of necessity: these, no doubt, are
-painful duties, but are we not all called to wear the crown of thorns?
-
-Totally unconnected with the negotiations of 1814, which were entirely
-in the hands of Prince Talleyrand, the Duc de Richelieu may be said to
-have spent the first restoration in renewing his acquaintance with his
-country. He had quitted it a young man, and since then what marvellous
-events, what a new existence, had taken place! Property had been
-invaded, the homes of his forefathers pillaged! The domestic hearth no
-longer existed--even the tombs were violated and the bones of the dead
-were cast out; and this in the midst of a revolutionary society, which
-attached guilt even to the tears of the victims! The events of the 20th
-of March were caused by a fatal reaction in the minds of the soldiery,
-and a democratic hatred against the unfortunate nobility of France; and
-the Duc de Richelieu accompanied the ancient banner of his country into
-voluntary exile.
-
-On his return for the second time, Louis XVIII. intrusted Talleyrand
-with the formation of a ministry based upon the English system;
-nevertheless, the chief of the cabinet was well aware that Russia must
-necessarily exercise very considerable influence over the negotiations
-relating to France, and he proposed M. de Richelieu as minister of the
-king's household, with the idea this choice would be agreeable to the
-Emperor Alexander: the appointment, however, was not accepted, for
-the Duke had an extreme repugnance to be seated beside the regicide
-Fouché; besides which, he was well aware that Alexander was displeased
-at the aspect of a ministry so entirely devoted to England, and which
-had been formed under the ascendancy of the Duke of Wellington. I have
-already mentioned the causes that broke up Talleyrand's ministry; after
-its dissolution, Louis XVIII. considered that the Russian influence
-would alone be capable of procuring for us some alleviation of the
-heavy burdens imposed by the invasion, for the Czar was the only party
-whose interest was not concerned in the affair; and it is necessary to
-read the diplomatic correspondence of Lord Castlereagh and the German
-diplomatists to judge how overwhelming were the conditions imposed by
-the Allies. Their crushing demands, their deplorable ultimatum, had
-been published; the negotiations did not advance, while, at the same
-time, the disastrous condition of the country was aggravated by the
-presence of a million of foreigners. It was in order to obtain the
-powerful support of the Emperor of Russia that the king appointed the
-Duc de Richelieu minister for foreign affairs, and president of the
-council; thus assigning him a double and most difficult office.
-
-Still nobody was better fitted than the Duke to hasten the conclusion
-of the treaty; nobody had so much reason to hope he might succeed
-in abating its severity. The Czar felt the utmost confidence in the
-noble governor of Odessa, and he was not ignorant that France had
-but little to hope for in point of support from her neighbours, who
-had been too long irritated by the weight of her power. Russia alone
-had nothing to claim from her, and she was furthermore inclined to
-lend her assistance, as to a faithful ally in the south of Europe.
-The Duke was well convinced of all these circumstances, and he took
-care to represent to the Czar, that all the importance lost by France
-would be so much added to the strength and power of her rivals, and
-would increase the superiority of Austria and Prussia. Alexander's
-inclinations were favourable to our country, and by drawing out
-these kindly feelings the Duke was enabled to fulfil the immense
-task that had been imposed upon him. Let us take a retrospect of
-the afflicting state of our invaded land in the year 1815. 700,000
-soldiers occupied the country, the people of Germany were in a state of
-extreme irritation, and the remains of the seditious and disorganised
-army on the other side of the Loire had been disbanded with great
-difficulty; add to which, the treasury was exhausted, and the course
-of the contributions interrupted by a long abuse of power. Surely
-it required a mind of no common energy to grapple with a situation
-so fraught with difficulty and disaster! In quiet times diplomacy
-is a work of skill and address, a polished interchange of political
-generalities, and some plans proposed for future accomplishment; but
-at this time, when we must recollect that Paris was in the hands of
-an imperious and vindictive enemy, what could we expect from the
-magnanimity of conquerors so long humbled and trampled upon by French
-domination? Under these fearful auspices the course of the negotiation
-was intrusted to the Duc de Richelieu, just at the decisive moment
-when, after a most stormy debate, the plenipotentiaries had come to
-an agreement concerning the sacrifices they were determined to exact
-from France. The most ruinous projects were maintained by England,
-Austria, and Prussia, their demands being comprehended between four
-points, viz. the cession of a territory, including the posts of Condé,
-Philippeville, Givet, Marienburg, Charlemont, Sarrelouis, and Landau,
-and the forts of Joux and Ecluse; the demolition of the fortifications
-of Hunningen; the payment of an indemnity of 800 millions; and the
-occupation of the frontiers by an army of 150,000 men, kept up at the
-expense of France for seven years. England insisted particularly that
-the chain of fortresses on the northern frontier should be so closely
-curbed, that Dunkirk should be the last in the possession of the
-French. The country was to be restored to the limits it occupied in
-the days of Henry IV., and a party, dating its birth from the national
-excitement which roused Germany against Napoleon, considered it
-undoubted that Alsace and Lorraine were to be reunited to the Germanic
-confederation. The map which represented France deprived of these fine
-provinces had already been designed by the German geographers, and it
-has since been preserved as a glorious trophy in the Richelieu family.
-
-Deeply affected by these resolutions, the minister drew up a
-memorial addressed to the Emperor Alexander, and expressed with
-the conscientious energy of an honest man. "France," said he, "in
-regaining her sovereigns, ought also to recover the territory they
-governed, otherwise the restoration would be incomplete." The minister
-depicted, with the fervour inspired by deep conviction, the despair of
-a great people, and the prospective consequences to be feared from it;
-for, at the first opportunity, France would again fly to arms. This
-remonstrance made a great impression upon Alexander, and though it was
-not possible to induce the allied powers to agree to the general idea
-contained in it, at least the Duke succeeded in obtaining that the
-important posts of Condé, Givet, and Charlemont, and the forts of Joux
-and Ecluse, should not be included in the territorial cessions. The
-pecuniary indemnity also was diminished by 100 millions of francs, and
-it was determined the military occupation should not exceed five years,
-and might possibly terminate at the end of three. The French minister
-signed the memorable treaty on the 20th of November, 1815, and it bears
-honourable witness to the sadness that oppressed his heart.[44] He had
-succeeded in obtaining great and noble advantages for his country,
-but he bore the name of Richelieu, and was the great-nephew of the
-celebrated cardinal who had so greatly augmented the monarchy, and
-he could not, without pain and grief, see the smallest particle of
-its grandeur torn away. The speech he made five days afterwards bears
-the stamp of patriotic sorrow and dignified resignation, and it was
-impossible, while listening to it, not to feel that the minister had
-yielded solely because the conquerors were inexorable, rendering the
-measure of imperious necessity.
-
- [44] _Vide_ art. Pozzo di Borgo.
-
-The cares incident to so important a negotiation had not led the Duke
-to neglect the internal administration of the country; and while the
-chambers sanctioned the extraordinary powers required by the government
-to repress the old and turbulent spirit of Liberalism, the ministry
-was occupied in taking just and solemn measures against those who,
-by favouring the return of Buonaparte, had led to the misfortunes of
-their country, and authorised these terrible reprisals. The fatal trial
-of Marshal Ney was the first that took place; and now that political
-ideas are clearer, and we are no longer carried away by declamation,
-the motives of the great debate that ensued are easily explained. The
-marshal was summoned before a council of war, by an _ordonnance_ signed
-under the ministry of Fouché and Talleyrand; and this council having
-declared itself incompetent, the marshal ought to have been tried by
-the House of Peers, this being the natural order of jurisdiction. The
-Duc de Richelieu, on the 11th of November, 1815, carried to the chamber
-the royal _ordonnance_, which constituted it a court of justice, and,
-with his heart still full of the sad sacrifices that had been exacted
-from his country, he expressed himself with warmth and firmness against
-the authors of the revolution of the Hundred Days; for was it not the
-actions of those people that had brought a million of foreigners into
-our land? After the condemnation of the marshal, the Duke, desirous
-of calming the unruly passions that raged in the country, presented a
-bill for a general amnesty to the two chambers, in which there were no
-exceptions, except the names contained in a list drawn up by Fouché.
-During seasons of agitation, parties always go beyond the plans
-proposed by governments, and upon this project the chamber of 1815
-established its system of _categories_; and the regicides were banished
-the kingdom, contrary to the personal opinion of Louis XVIII. In the
-course of the discussion it was proposed to confiscate the property of
-condemned and banished persons, but Richelieu rejected the measure,
-saying that "confiscations rendered the evils of war irreparable." And
-how much generosity was exhibited in this conduct, when we consider
-that the Duke had himself been deprived, by the most implacable
-confiscations, of all the property of his family!
-
-The finest portion of his life begins from this period. The great
-object he had proposed to himself was the deliverance of invaded
-France, overwhelmed by foreign powers; and, at the same time, the
-situation of the country gave cause for the most serious uneasiness. It
-was now necessary to levy an army to act as a weight in the European
-balance of power, and also to fulfil the hard conditions imposed by the
-treaty of 1815; while, to remove the fears entertained by the different
-cabinets, the Duke gave them to understand that the divisions arising
-in the chambers were merely the natural result of the representative
-system. One ought to remember the miserable years of 1816 and 1817; the
-dearness of grain, the scarcity, and the revolts in various provinces,
-the occupations of the strong posts in France by 150,000 bayonets, and
-a military contribution of 15 millions a month. In the midst of all
-these disasters the Duke suggested the diminution of the foreign army,
-thus commencing a negotiation which led to much greater results; and,
-on the 11th of February, 1817, he came to announce to the chambers that
-30,000 men were about to repass the frontier, and that the expense of
-the army of occupation would be diminished by 30 millions of francs.
-This relief was owing to the reparative system he had pursued, and to
-the efforts of France, so fruitful in resources.
-
-We, perhaps, hardly meet, in the whole course of history, with two
-years more difficult to get over than from 1815 to 1817. An armed
-invasion, famine, vehemence of parties, factions up in arms; and
-withal, extreme constraint in the administration, both as a whole and
-in detail, and a country whose ancient frontiers must be by all means
-preserved.
-
-The army of occupation having been diminished, it became indispensable
-to have recourse to forced levies, to secure the safety and the dignity
-of the country; and a law for that purpose was proposed and accepted at
-the opening of the session of 1817, as a complete military system: the
-essentials of this law are still in force.
-
-At this period commenced the intimacy between the Duc de Richelieu
-and MM. Mounier and De Rayneval, two men of great ability, and who
-remained faithful to his memory. And let me be permitted to offer a
-last tribute to both these distinguished persons, then in the flower of
-their age, and now consigned to the tomb; for men of strong feelings
-are soon worn out by public life. M. Gérard de Rayneval belonged to
-an ancient diplomatic family, whose employment in the foreign office
-dated from the ministry of M. de Vergennes, and the treaty with the
-Low Countries. M. Mounier was endowed with a lively and penetrating
-mind, and possessed immense erudition; he, like M. de Barante, had, in
-early youth, been thrown into the administration of the Empire, and
-had filled the situation of secretary to the cabinet; and the Duke
-conceived a friendship for both these men equal to the confidence
-he deservedly reposed in them. He had a great regard for honour and
-probity, and where could it be more fully met with than in people,
-whose characters remained pure and free from blemish, nay, who retained
-an honourable poverty, in the midst of the liquidation of foreign
-debts, amounting to 1700 millions of francs?
-
-When the peace of 1814 was signed, the governments had declared
-their reciprocal debts at an end; but while they renounced their own
-claims upon the treasury, they made a reservation in favour of those
-of private individuals, which had been so violently attacked by the
-wars of the Revolution and of the Empire. When Europe dictated the
-implacable treaty of November, 1815, claims poured in on every side;
-it was stipulated that payment should be effected by inscriptions in
-the great book of the public debt of France, and 9 millions a-year
-were at first set aside for that purpose; the time, however, for
-presenting claims was not to expire until the 28th of February,
-1817; and--will it be believed?--the sum total amounted to 1600
-millions![45] a sum of almost fabulous magnitude, which surpassed
-the value of the two budgets of France. It was enough to drive one
-to despair, especially as each person demanded payment in full. What
-was to be done under circumstances of so much difficulty? Russia was
-so situated as naturally to assume the character of a mediator, for
-she had but few claims; and the Emperor Alexander, convinced that,
-unless the negotiation were carried on by an arbiter common to all
-parties, it would fall to the ground before the diversity of views
-and opinions, proposed, as I have before stated, to intrust it to the
-Duke of Wellington, making, at the same time, a sort of appeal to his
-generosity.
-
- [45] 64 millions sterling.
-
-The mediator, under the guidance of M. Mounier, and after unheard-of
-retrenchments, fixed the sum destined for the payment of the debts
-of France to individuals at 16 millions and 40,000 francs. People
-are too apt to forget in the present times the extreme difficulties
-encountered by the public credit of the restoration, during the
-period of our misfortunes. The Duc de Richelieu very soon came to the
-conclusion, that a system of well-conducted loans offered the only
-possible means of fulfilling the obligations imposed by the treaty.
-During the sway of Napoleon, the credit of the government had been
-utterly null; confidence had been destroyed by too many violations of
-the public faith, and too many arbitrary actions, for the Revolution
-and the Empire were merely the abuse of power; and the events of 1814
-and 1815 having compelled the government to increase the public debt
-to 126 millions, would it be possible to obtain an additional loan? No
-French house had presented itself possessed of sufficient capital to
-act upon so vast a scale; their fear of the risk was too great. But
-the Duke considered there would be an advantage in foreign loans, in
-raising a competition among all the capitals of Europe, and effecting
-our deliverance by a mere change of location. The necessary pecuniary
-resources were found in the opulent firm of Hope and Baring; and, to
-prepare the departure of the foreign troops, the minister succeeded
-in obtaining that the sovereigns who signed the treaty of 1815 should
-assemble at Aix-la-Chapelle, to determine whether the occupation should
-terminate at the end of three years, or whether it should be prolonged
-to five, according to the alternative left by the treaty.
-
-This proposal having been accepted, the congress assembled on the
-20th of September 1818. All the obstacles had been already overcome
-by the pacific views of Russia, which had acted favourably upon the
-scruples entertained by Prussia and England; and on the 2d of October
-the evacuation of the French provinces was decided upon, and the last
-traces of the invasion disappeared; besides which the Duc de Richelieu
-obtained a reduction of part of the indemnity still unpaid. Who does
-not recollect the proud and natural delight of the French minister on
-his return? France was no longer a country in the occupation of Europe,
-but a government admitted into the first rank among nations, with its
-greatness, its liberty, and its independence. Sufficient justice is
-seldom rendered to statesmen who restore to a country its dignity and
-consideration: vulgar history only extols those that destroy.
-
-Another crisis, however, was in preparation. The value of the public
-securities, owing to excessive speculations, had risen to an immoderate
-height, which was followed, in 1818, by an equally rapid fall, and the
-Allies might have destroyed the public credit by rejecting the _rentes_
-that had been assigned in payment of the subsidies; but the word of
-the Duc de Richelieu was sufficient to obtain a considerable extension
-of the time fixed for the payments to be made to the allied powers:
-and as great embarrassments still prevailed on the Exchange, he still
-farther obtained, that 100 millions which were to have been discharged
-by inscriptions of _rentes_, and which were included in the payments
-stipulated by the Allies, should be withdrawn, and in their stead
-_bons_ on the treasury should be substituted, to become due in eighteen
-months.
-
-Such was the end attained by the negotiations of the Duc de Richelieu
-with foreign powers; the great object of his life was fulfilled, for
-in what a state of misery was France when he assumed the reins of
-government! 700,000 foreigners, contributions of all kinds, the country
-placed at the ban of Europe! Now to that country he had restored
-liberty, he had reorganised her army, had established her public
-credit, and reconciled France with the world. Before this great result
-was achieved, the Duke had repeatedly declared to his friends that,
-as soon as the personal credit he enjoyed with foreign powers was no
-longer necessary, he should quit the situation he had been compelled
-to accept, and retire into private life, and accordingly he sent in
-his resignation; but it was not accepted, for the old liberal spirit
-had arisen to struggle for victory. Many men possessed of no ability,
-except for public speaking, had striven to secure the elections, and
-the result of the proceedings of several of the electoral colleges had
-caused great anxiety to the friends of government. M. de Richelieu was
-therefore compelled to remain at the head of affairs; and he returned
-to Paris for the purpose of concerting the measures rendered necessary
-by the actual circumstances.
-
-The cabinet were agreed upon the necessity of opposing a barrier to
-democratic opinions and principles; nevertheless, serious dissensions
-arose when the electoral system came to be debated; and the Duke,
-much annoyed by the difference of opinion that existed in the council
-between himself, M. Decaze, and Marshal Gouvion St. Cyr, returned to
-his former wish of retiring from office. His example was followed
-by the rest of the ministers, who gave in their resignation in a
-simultaneous manner that was very remarkable. It is a melancholy truth,
-that the statesman who had so powerfully contributed to deliver the
-territory from foreign occupation, was compelled to retire before the
-petty intrigues suggested by narrow policy and the Chamber of Deputies.
-The Duke's opinion of the electoral system was different from that
-entertained by the partizans of the old liberal school, and he resigned
-his portfolio to General Dessole.
-
-In spite of all the great affairs in which M. de Richelieu had been
-engaged, he was in a condition of honourable poverty, and the king
-conferred upon the retired minister the appointment of Grand Huntsman,
-in the same manner as he had conferred the title of Grand Chamberlain
-upon M. de Talleyrand, after his services in 1815. The chambers,
-however, were conscious that a recompense was due from the country to
-the able negotiator of Aix-la-Chapelle, and M. de Lally made a proposal
-that the king should be requested to confer a national reward upon the
-Duc de Richelieu. The same suggestion was made in the upper chamber, at
-the very moment when a letter from the Duke declared to the president
-of the deputies, that he should be proud of receiving a mark of the
-king's favour, given with the concurrence of the chambers; but that as
-it was proposed to award him a _national_ recompense at the expense of
-the nation, he could not consent to see any thing added for his sake to
-the burdens under which the country was already groaning. Every body
-was well aware that the Duke possessed no fortune, and that his sole
-income was derived from his office of grand huntsman; a good deal of
-littleness, however, was exhibited in the Chamber of Deputies when it
-was proposed to assign a _majorat_ of 50,000 francs to the heir of the
-name of Richelieu, as a recompense to the minister who had obtained the
-liberation of the territory. Are public bodies only capable of great
-actions when a profit arises from them to the passions by which they
-are actuated? The proposed _majorat_ was afterwards changed into an
-annuity; and, out of respect to the king's wishes, the Duke did not
-refuse this acknowledgement of his services, but he devoted the entire
-income derived from it to the foundation of a religious charity in the
-city of Bourdeaux. Such was the personal generosity of this great man,
-who was desirous of retiring entirely to private life.
-
-Alas! his political career was not yet concluded! The Decaze ministry,
-on every side inundated by old liberal opinions, was at its last gasp.
-Advantage was taken of the law of elections against the government, one
-concession led to another, and the Duke was summoned to the council
-extraordinary, presided over by the king in person, to advise upon
-the measures to be pursued in this emergency. The crime of Louvel had
-filled Paris with grief and horror, and M. Decaze, abandoned by the
-_côté gauche_ of the chamber, who defended the law of February 5th,
-1817, rejected by the royalists, who reproached him with not having
-agreed to the propositions of the Marquis Barthélemy, at last sent
-in his resignation; and at this difficult juncture, the king again
-placed the Duc de Richelieu at the head of affairs. The most urgent
-entreaties were required to induce him to accept the appointment,
-for the situation was melancholy, and the country full of anxiety,
-while the irritation of parties had reached its highest pitch. The
-preceding administration had proposed an electoral system, which was
-distasteful to all parties in the chamber; it had demanded laws arming
-the government with extraordinary powers; no majority was yet formed,
-and the ministry were doubtful whether these laws would be capable of
-overcoming the formidable opposition they would have to encounter; the
-fears of Europe also had been aroused, and it was necessary to appease
-them. At length, every thing, however, was provided for, and, at the
-end of a long and painful discussion, exceptional laws were voted.
-
-But then, who was able to calm the public mind? and what hand was
-sufficiently powerful to arrest the evil tendency of society? A bias
-had been given to education in France ever since the revolution of
-1789; people were closely surrounded by mischievous opinions and
-frightful systems; parties considered themselves sufficiently powerful
-to conspire openly, and intimidate the government by tumultuous
-meetings. Seditious assemblies took place with a view to political
-catastrophes, and the slightest hesitation might have given rise to
-the most dreadful calamities. The command of Paris was now committed
-to Marshal Macdonald, by the ministers' council, formidable military
-preparations were made, and proofs were obtained of a conspiracy,
-involving some names since exalted by another revolution. During the
-ten days that this state of anxiety and trouble prevailed, they had
-only to regret the lives of two of the disturbers of the public peace;
-and now that the ideas concerning government are become more advanced,
-people will be surprised at the declamations of those who held liberal
-opinions, against measures which were indispensable for the safety of
-the country. Has not every government a right to defend itself, and is
-it not bound to do so?
-
-Europe now began to assume an alarming aspect. The revolt of the
-Spanish army at the island of Léon found an echo in a similar movement
-among the Neapolitan troops. Portugal quickly followed their example;
-and the seditious, imagining the French army well inclined to imitate
-the conduct of their neighbours, directed all their efforts towards
-this end. After having broken all the bonds of civil order, the
-revolution endeavoured to overturn the principle of duty and obedience
-among the soldiery. In most of the corps, however, the officers
-continued faithful to their engagements; a few only were unable to
-resist the torrent, and a conspiracy was formed in several of the
-regiments at Paris, extending in its ramifications to various military
-stations, and it was determined that the rising should take place
-in the barracks on the 20th of August, 1820. On the proposal of M.
-Mounier, then director-general of the police, the ministers' council
-determined upon arresting the conspirators before they had unfurled
-a standard and actually proclaimed the insurrection. The heads of
-this military conspiracy are well known at present, and some of them
-have even been rewarded; but, as is always the case, the plot was
-denied by the parties engaged in it. The Chamber of Peers behaved with
-much indulgence, as able and experienced authorities usually do when
-severity is not indispensably necessary; and the government preferred
-pardoning many offences, and consigning much to oblivion, to being
-compelled to authorise the shedding of blood.
-
-The elections of 1820, which had taken place when a favourable
-impression had been raised by the birth of the Duc de Bourdeaux,
-gave a powerful and compact _côté droit_ to the chamber, and MM. de
-Villèle and Corbière, who had assumed the position of its chiefs,
-ought naturally to have supported the Duc de Richelieu; but, at the
-very commencement of the session, clouds appeared on the horizon. The
-_côté droit_ of the chambers had hitherto fought by the side of the
-ministers, and triumphed with them, and consequently they claimed a
-direct participation in the administration. Negotiations were entered
-into with them; the Duke would not consent that any of the men who had
-hitherto governed with him, and preserved the kingdom in its hour of
-peril, should be excluded from the council; however, two only of the
-principal deputies on the _côté droit_, MM. de Villèle and Corbière,
-were appointed members of the cabinet, with the title of ministerial
-secretaries of state.[46] M. Lainé, a man with whose honest and
-upright character the Duke had been particularly struck, was also a
-member of this administration.
-
- [46] Ministres secrétaires d'état.
-
-The political principle of this revised ministry was the agreement of
-the centre of the _côté droit_, and the _droite_ itself, in one common
-vote; but the session under this management was long and troublesome,
-and a tedious and stormy debate took place before the Duke was able to
-decide upon the execution of his idea of an extended system of canal
-navigation, like that at present in force. He drew up a plan, inviting
-men possessed of large capital to take a part in these great works;
-for at that time the principal part of the capital in the kingdom,
-was invested in the funds, and enterprises tending to the benefit of
-industry and the improvement of the country were not popular: many
-difficulties were encountered, but they were all overcome by means of
-firmness and determination.
-
-Order was now established in all the departments of government;
-the restraints formerly imposed upon the action of the municipal
-authorities, by a system of excessive centralisation, were removed;
-and in the financial department the most unlimited competition was
-invited, for the first time, in the sale of stock, and the value of
-public securities reached its highest pitch. In his foreign policy,
-the Duke never ceased for a moment to support the idea of the Russian
-alliance, less from former recollections, and his affection for the
-Emperor Alexander, than upon the principle constantly expressed in
-all his correspondence, that the Russian alliance was advantageous to
-France because it was perfectly disinterested. In fact, what can Russia
-demand of us? On what point can we clash? Commerce with her can never
-be otherwise than an equal exchange; the productions of industry in
-her country are not of equal value with ours; she requires our wines,
-our fashions, our manufactures, and we, in exchange, require her
-timber, her copper, and her iron. Her fleets cannot assume any dominion
-over us, her frontiers do not reach us in any direction, and we are
-benefited by her influence; whilst, on the other hand, the designs
-and interests of France are opposed by the English alliance in all
-questions of importance. M. de Richelieu's system was resumed by M. de
-la Ferronays in 1828.
-
-During the Duke's second ministry the great European powers met at
-Laybach, to agree upon a vast repressive system to be pursued against
-the insurrection rising in arms around. The Richelieu cabinet was
-resolved upon a firm resistance against all the tumults and disorders
-that were disturbing the peace of Europe. Agitation had also arisen
-in the East, and the Greeks had raised the standard of the cross. But
-Russia, which under Catherine had supported the Hellenic emancipation,
-was now too fully occupied with her own affairs to be able to follow
-up the system she had then commenced. France, therefore, determined
-upon sending a naval force into the Grecian seas for the protection of
-commerce, and, while observing a generous neutrality, assistance was
-still afforded to all who implored it from the French flag. But now
-the Richelieu cabinet, entirely occupied with its foreign relations,
-was threatened with danger to itself. Its very feeble parliamentary
-combination rested upon a false basis in the chamber. The ministry
-only existed by the will of the _côté droit_; and that party with
-its chiefs, MM. de Villèle and Corbière, would not fail, sooner or
-later, to assume the direction of affairs, because they possessed the
-majority. The _droite_ and the _gauche_ were both distinct from the
-cabinet, and the former was evidently impatient to seize the reins of
-government.
-
-These two fractions of the chamber were desirous of concluding with a
-_coup d'éclat_; and the reply to the speech from the throne in 1821
-became the arena for the great political struggle. The commission
-under the direction of the _côté droit_ insisted that in the plan of
-the address presented to the chamber these words should be inserted:
-"We congratulate you, sire, upon your friendly relations with foreign
-powers, feeling a just confidence that so valuable a peace has not
-been purchased by sacrifices incompatible with the honour of the
-nation and the dignity of the crown." So offensive an expression was
-an open rupture with the cabinet. M. de Richelieu declared such an
-insinuation was an insult to the crown, and the ministers tendered
-their resignation. The chamber persisted, and voted the address, which
-was, in fact, a declaration that they did not wish the ministry to
-stand: the cabinet, therefore, retired in a mass, and were succeeded by
-MM. de Montmorency and de Villèle.
-
-And here let us pause, and observe to what trials men are exposed who
-devote themselves entirely to the defence of the interests of their
-country, without intrigue or passion, simply from the feeling for all
-that is right and noble! No character can bear a comparison with that
-of the Duc de Richelieu; no services equal those he rendered to his
-country; and, behold! he was overturned both by the _côté droit_, and
-the _gauche_ of the Chamber of Deputies. The conduct of the _gauche_
-was this: the Duke took charge of France at the time of the foreign
-invasion; the Buonapartists and the remains of the Jacobin faction,
-having a second time endangered the country by their madness of
-the _hundred days_; the enemy was in Paris--it occupied France;
-the influence of the Duke succeeded in preserving the country, and
-diminishing the sacrifices exacted from it; the foreign troops were
-withdrawn, and, as a recompense, the spirit of liberalism overturned
-the Duke.
-
-Would you also know the conduct of the ungrateful monarchical party? A
-great crisis had occurred for the crown; the royalists were giving way,
-and the power was about to be wrested from their hands by the _côté
-gauche_. The restoration was completely compromised, when the Duke
-again sacrificed himself: holding his popularity cheap, he augmented
-and strengthened the royalist party, and this was the summary of the
-instructions concerning the elections, directed by M. Mounier: "Before
-every thing, the friends of royalty;" and then the ultras, masters
-by this means of the majority, had nothing so much at heart as the
-dismissal of the Duc de Richelieu, in order to give themselves up to
-their mad projects.
-
-This moment was the conclusion of the Duke's political life; his
-feelings had been severely tried by the injustice of parties. It
-soon became apparent that his health was rapidly declining, and in a
-journey to the Château of Courteille, where the Duchess was living, he
-was taken ill, suddenly became insensible, and died at Paris, on the
-night of the 16th of May, 1822. He was only fifty-five years of age;
-his carriage was erect, and his features simple and regular, as they
-appear in the fine portrait of Lawrence of which I have spoken. All
-parties concur in awarding the highest praise to the noble qualities of
-the Duc de Richelieu. He was not a man of extraordinary genius, but of
-a thoroughly honest and upright character; and there are times, when
-no talent possessed by a statesman is of so much avail as honesty. I
-admire the infinite superiority of a man capable of allowing virtue and
-honour their full weight in the political balance, and I take especial
-pleasure in rendering this tribute to the Duc de Richelieu, because I
-have never known so fine a character combined with so noble a name.
-
-
-
-
-PRINCE HARDENBERG.
-
-
-It is natural that States which feel an incessant desire of increasing,
-should not retain the inflexible principles of upright and generous
-policy in their diplomatic system. Every time they feel stifled, they
-strive for more space and the means of more extended respiration;
-and such has constantly been the condition of the Prussian monarchy,
-from the time of its foundation, which may be said to have taken
-place unexpectedly, at the beginning of the eighteenth century. At
-this period the Duchy became a Kingdom, and no sooner was the kingdom
-established than it wanted to become great; for more room is required
-to unfold the sweeping train of a King, than to wear the robes merely
-of a Duke or a Margrave.
-
-This necessity for augmentation created a national law peculiar to
-Prussia; and looking at nothing but the necessities of her position,
-she seized every thing she could lay her hands upon. Frederic II.
-carried on this system of conquest, for his wars were regulated by
-no principle of the law of nations, and he appeared to have but one
-object in view, which was, to attack at one time Poland, and at another
-Silesia, for the purpose of conquering cities and provinces. On this
-account he availed himself of all means of distinction, striving for
-the celebrity of a writer and the pretension of a poet; even making the
-most of the puerile vanity of the philosophical party of the eighteenth
-century. When we examine into the actual constitution of Prussia, as
-well as into that she formerly possessed, we shall observe that her
-organisation has always been such as to render conquest imperatively
-necessary; even at present is not the kingdom like a lean giant, armed
-at all points, whose head is at Königsberg and his feet dipped in the
-Rhine, but whose middle is wanting? and the country that is required to
-complete the picture, is it not Saxony?
-
-It is, then, as the personification of the Prussian political system,
-that I am about to write the life of Baron, afterwards Prince
-Hardenberg, the most remarkable statesman that has been at the head
-of affairs in the monarchy of Frederic. Charles-Augustus, baron
-Hardenberg, was born in October 1750, at Hanover, that principality
-wedged into the midst of Germany, which recalls to the recollection
-the origin of the kings of England. Hanover preserves its German
-character under a separate administration, although it belongs to the
-patrimonial inheritance of the princes called to wear the English
-crown; and this separation was imperatively demanded by the English, a
-people so tenacious of their liberty, in order to avoid the chance of
-fatal continental wars, to defend the patrimony of their sovereign--a
-contingency their constitution will not permit.
-
-Baron Hardenberg was descended from an ancient family, carried back
-by the old heraldic traditions as far as the eleventh century, at the
-time of the Emperors of the house of Suabia; he was himself the son
-of a marshal of the empire, and went to the military university of
-Brunswick with the intention of following his father's profession.
-The bent of his inclinations, however, appeared to be different, and
-while he applied his mind to the severest studies, he felt a strong
-vocation for a diplomatic life, and his curiosity led him always to
-endeavour to discover by what springs the cabinets recorded in history
-were actuated. He afterwards went to travel, gaining knowledge while
-visiting the different parts of Europe, and arrived in London at the
-time when Mr. Pitt was at the head of affairs, and a most violent and
-active opposition surrounded the ministry. As Hanover, as I have before
-mentioned, forms part of the patrimonial inheritance of the reigning
-family, Baron Hardenberg, though not an English subject, was naturally
-desirous of acquiring an extensive knowledge of the laws and customs
-which form a national law peculiar to England, and with which every
-British subject ought to be acquainted. But England was the scene of
-his greatest domestic infelicity; for having in early youth married the
-most beautiful woman in Germany, Mademoiselle de Randlaw, he introduced
-her into the brilliant society and dissipation of London, and she was
-received with an almost chivalric enthusiasm in the highest circles.
-
-A Prince, from whom Richardson would have drawn his character of
-Lovelace, the Prince of Wales, heir to the throne of England,
-remarkable for his personal beauty, magnificent in his equipages, and
-accomplished in all manly exercises, fell desperately in love with
-Baroness Hardenberg; and so much publicity attached to his admiration,
-that a separation became inevitable; the Baron therefore quitted
-England and returned to Germany. He already gave evidence of three
-qualities denoting great ability; the subtlety of intellect necessary
-in all negotiations of any importance; a habit of conversation,
-alternately discreet and unguarded, cold or vehement, according to
-circumstances; and a most profound knowledge of European national
-law--talents which naturally fitted him for a high diplomatic
-situation: nevertheless, young Hardenberg gave himself up entirely to
-the details of the administration of the country--a circumstance in
-which he resembled William Pitt, who was at the same time a first-rate
-politician and attentive to the smallest minutiæ regarding war and
-finance. His perfect acquaintance with the laws of Germany was a great
-assistance to him, when he was summoned to the supreme direction of the
-affairs of Prussia.
-
-Another quality possessed by Hardenberg, was his strong and decided
-taste for literature; and his intimate friendship with Goëthe, who
-exercised such absolute dominion over the intellects of his time, arose
-from this source. This was not one of the relations of protector and
-protégé; for in Germany, where matters of genius and study are viewed
-in a serious light, a man of literary celebrity is placed almost in
-a superior rank, and he is not only on a footing of equality with
-statesmen, but sometimes even in a position of master and scholar.
-What a brilliant sceptre was that extended by Goëthe over Germany!
-The poet who had shewn such incomparable skill in his delineation of
-the feudal ages, appeared to blend in his escutcheon of glory all the
-ancient colours of the German nobility. This threefold aptitude of
-Baron Hardenberg for literature, politics, and administration, produced
-great and uncommon results: first, an expansion of mind arising from
-the habit of treating important affairs; then, a close application to
-detail, arising from his employment in the executive administration;
-and, finally, a clear, exact, and benevolent mind, the consequence of
-the literary intercourse he had pursued with enthusiasm during his
-youth.
-
-We must recollect what was at that time the spirit that prevailed
-in Prussia, and also the bent of its government. In addition to her
-never-failing desire of conquest, there is always in that country a
-certain inclination for serious study, and a wish for the advancement
-of ideas; and though no free debate be permitted on matters connected
-with the government, the discussion of philosophical and rational
-questions is entirely unshackled; religious opinions also are
-independent of any controlling theory, the Protestant spirit having
-introduced a sort of egotism into the schools, from which it results
-that every opinion, even though it be mischievous, is admitted and
-examined without regard to the chivalrous feelings that attach a people
-to a dynasty, or a generation to the articles of their faith.
-
-It was in this school the statesmen of Germany were formed, more
-especially Baron Hardenberg. His devotion to the study of German
-law had given him a precise and accurate manner of examining facts,
-without being carried away by prejudice or enthusiasm; and when
-the French revolution burst forth, Prussia, which was foremost to
-join the coalition, saw a new class of statesmen arise to oppose
-the chivalrous spirit of the nobility, and place the check of cool
-reason upon the ardour of the old families. Baron Hardenberg did not
-completely concur in the opinions of M. Haugwitz, of the secretary
-M. Lombard, and the Countess Lichtenau, who were even well inclined
-towards the revolutionary powers that then reigned in France; he had
-less inclination than Count Goltz towards French ideas, but being
-completely a Prussian in his interests and opinions, he considered
-that the object of his cabinet could not possibly be to act as a
-knight-errant in defence of certain political opinions, but rather to
-endeavour to acquire a great influence in Germany, at the expense of
-Austria, and also a territorial addition in Poland; and as Prussia
-was not immediately threatened by the principles and ideas of the
-French revolution, he considered it very important to reap all possible
-advantage from the new situation of events.
-
-This rendered him the most active partisan of the treaty of Basle,
-though he was not at first engaged in it by name; for that very
-difficult negotiation was originally undertaken by Count Goltz with M.
-Barthélemy; but after the death of the plenipotentiary it was concluded
-by Baron Hardenberg; and this was the first commencement of his being
-really actively employed in public affairs. His manners were singularly
-pleasing to the men of the revolution, especially to Merlin de Douai,
-who thought them like those of a marquis of the old school, with
-intelligence, ease, and a method of action free from prepossession or
-prejudice, even with regard to democratic opinions. The committee of
-public safety treated him almost in royal style, by sending him a fine
-service of Sèvres china, as at the conclusion of treaties under the old
-monarchy, when an interchange of diplomatic presents used to take place
-among plenipotentiaries.
-
-In this treaty, as in the negotiation of Rahstadt, Baron Hardenberg
-was less actuated by French principles than by the firm conviction
-that the treaty of Basle tended to realizing the two most constant and
-deeply-rooted feelings of his mind: viz. the Prussian influence over
-Germany, and the aggrandisement of his cabinet. He promoted the system
-of German neutrality, which influenced the interests of the country,
-and to a certain degree excited Germany against Austria; and for this
-purpose he made use of France, considering it of little consequence
-whether it was a monarchy or a republic: he had a particular object
-in view; but he was guilty of a mistake on that point. There were
-two questions to be particularly considered in the French revolution:
-if it had confined itself to measures that merely regarded its own
-internal condition, and had disseminated nothing, neither ideas nor
-interests, the selfish policy of Prussia might have been successful;
-but neither the committee of the convention nor the directory had
-any respect for fixed principles. Baron Hardenberg had established
-neutrality in part of Germany; how was it observed when the republican
-army required again to pass the Rhine? Did it trouble itself concerning
-the principles laid down by the Prussian minister, and the territorial
-line of the neutrality? When entering into a treaty with a government,
-the first necessary inquiry is, whether it will respect the general
-principles of the law of nations. Prussia, however, had assumed too
-egotistical a position; indeed she carried her system to such a pitch,
-that the minister interfered with the levy of contingents, lest they
-should augment the Austrian influence. Many years elapsed before the
-ideas of this school were effaced; but Hardenberg's mind afterwards
-expanded, and he saw there were other circumstances to be attended
-to, besides the antiquated system of politics, which would keep up a
-rivalry between Prussia and Austria, at the time when a general social
-revolution had taken place.
-
-After a long stay at Basle, during which time he was in habits of the
-greatest intimacy with the ministers of the French republic, Baron
-Hardenberg returned to Berlin, where the king conferred upon him the
-order of the Black Eagle of the first class, as a mark of his perfect
-concurrence in the politics of the treaty just concluded. The direction
-of foreign affairs was still, however, in the hands of Count Haugwitz,
-a friend of Countess Lichtenau, and the secretary Lombard, and Baron
-Hardenberg being a person of too much importance to occupy a situation
-subordinate to Count Haugwitz, the administration of the principalities
-of Bayreuth and Anspach was again conferred upon him. This was a
-recreation to the diplomatist, who was glad to seek repose from
-political theories in the executive government of a principality, which
-he may be said to have added to Prussia. In Germany statesmen like to
-be men of business, and even in retirement their life is one of labour
-and study.
-
-Baron Hardenberg took no part in active business during the life of
-Frederic William II.; his private opinions had been a little modified,
-and he was not quite so decided in his approval of the convention of
-Basle, since he had had occasion to see the mischievous and arbitrary
-application made by the republicans of its principles in Germany.
-Nothing had been awarded to Prussia by the treaty of Rahstadt, in spite
-of the promises of real indemnities, as well as of absolute liberty,
-which had been made to her at Basle; he, therefore, had no connexion
-with the negotiations carried on by M. Caillard, when an endeavour
-was made to place Prussia in a new attitude, and produce a great
-degree of intimacy between the republic and Frederic William II. Baron
-Hardenberg does not appear to have exercised any influence until the
-accession of the young prince Frederic William, when, being attached
-to the young queen, Louisa of Prussia, by the most respectful and
-chivalrous devotion, he adopted her ideas and opinions, as indeed did
-all those who were within the circle of her almost magical influence.
-What a grand though melancholy existence was that of Louisa Wilhelmina,
-queen of Prussia, daughter of the Duke of Mecklenburg Strelitz and of
-Caroline of Hesse Darmstadt! Filled with the enthusiastic and visionary
-feelings natural to her country, she exercised, at the age of scarcely
-twenty years, the most holy, as well as the most absolute influence
-over her husband, while the hopes of Germany appeared to centre upon
-her. She introduced a more noble and elevated feeling into the selfish
-system of politics hitherto adopted by Prussia; and being as it were
-queen of the students and of the universities, she was the origin
-and the hope of the secret societies, which gave so poetical a tinge
-to Germany during the latter years of Napoleon. Under her influence,
-Baron Hardenberg took charge of the ministry for foreign affairs,
-shortly after the commencement of the consulate. In the midst of the
-various coalitions of the period, Prussia had hitherto preserved a
-strict neutrality; after the 18th Brumaire, however, she shewed herself
-perfectly willing to agree to all required by the First Consul, and the
-insinuations made by Buonaparte to Louis XVIII., proposing to him to
-abdicate, were despatched from Berlin; nor was even the proper degree
-of dignity exhibited on this occasion, though it ought to increase,
-rather than diminish, where illustrious sufferers are concerned.
-
-The Consul became Emperor; and with a view of still farther
-strengthening the bonds of union with Prussia, Napoleon appointed
-Marshal Duroc, his confidential friend, to represent him at Berlin.
-It was rather a difficult moment, as war was about again to resound
-in Europe, and the combined armies of Russia and Austria to take the
-field, rendering it a matter of very great importance to create a
-suitable post for Prussia; Baron Hardenberg was, therefore, summoned
-to the head of affairs, as the representative of a middle system then
-beginning to arise and develope itself under the influence of the Queen
-of Prussia. He was attached at the same time to English principles,
-and to the politics of France and Germany, and was under the necessity
-of instituting a close comparison among the various interests and
-influences presented to his view; he, however, detached himself from
-the debased political system pursued by Count Haugwitz. His great fault
-on this occasion was his not perceiving that Buonaparte's deceit was
-equal to his genius, and that he only kept terms with Prussia now, to
-ensure him a greater facility in punishing her at a future period.
-
-The first dissatisfaction entertained by the cabinet of Berlin
-against Buonaparte appeared in a despatch of Hardenberg's, on the
-violation of the Prussian territory, an extraordinary dereliction
-of the law of nations, which had given extreme offence to the court
-and to the people. "His majesty," said the Prussian minister, "does
-not know with which he has most cause to be astonished, the violence
-the French armies have chosen to commit in his territories, or the
-incomprehensible arguments by which it is pretended to justify them.
-His majesty, properly tenacious of the consideration due as much to his
-power as to his character, has read, with feelings he would in vain
-endeavour to conceal, the justificatory despatches that have been sent
-by the French legation to his cabinet. They rest upon the example of
-the former war and the parity of circumstances, as if the proceedings
-then permitted had not been founded upon exactly defined treaties,
-which ceased with the peace! as if the Emperor Napoleon had borne these
-treaties in mind when he took possession of Hanover, of a country
-which by these same treaties had been for many long years under the
-protection of Prussia! Ignorance of our intentions is made a pretext,
-as if our intentions were not, in this instance, proved by the actual
-fact; and as if the nature of the affair could be altered without any
-previous stipulation! His majesty had not given sufficient publicity
-with the Elector of Bavaria to circumstances it was unnecessary he
-should mention! And as if I had not myself, with the map in my hand,
-declared long before, in my conferences with M. le Maréchal Duroc,
-and M. de Laforest, the impossibility of permitting any troops to
-march through the margraviate! The king considers himself, from this
-time forth, set free from all the engagements he has formed, and feels
-under the necessity of commanding his armies to assume the position
-necessary for the defence of the state." The Emperor Napoleon was
-greatly offended by this despatch, and the firm language in which it
-was couched; but he was then desirous of keeping on good terms with the
-cabinet of Berlin to prevent their joining the coalition.
-
-By assuming a system of perfect neutrality, Prussia was likely to
-derive the advantage of being on friendly terms, even with the parties
-opposed to Napoleon; and there were English, Austrian, and Russian
-ministers at Berlin, with whom Baron Hardenberg was naturally in
-communication.
-
-According to the principles and the precedents of the court of
-Berlin, Hanover, though a hereditary fief of the British crown, was,
-nevertheless, under the protection of the German neutrality; such,
-however, was not the theory of Napoleon, who was deeply irritated
-against England; and more than one violation of territory had already
-shewn that the powerful Emperor would not consider the respect due to
-the rights of neutral powers, if it were likely to prove any obstacle
-to his success.
-
-Prussia was greatly displeased, and a decisive moment was at hand,
-for the Russian and Austrian armies were advancing against Napoleon.
-According to his usual custom, the impetuous military chieftain of
-France had ventured all risks, for he had boldness and fortune in
-addition to his genius; he entered Moravia, and, if Prussia had then
-declared herself, it would have been all over with him, as with
-150,000 men on his flank, his position would have been utterly lost;
-and to obtain this object the most pressing negotiations were going
-on at Berlin, England offering subsidies, Russia support, and Austria
-a larger share of territory, even in Poland. Hardenberg's opinion was
-to decide at once, but was his influence always predominant in the
-midst of so much corruption? Among those who sided with him was the
-noble-minded Queen, and the brave and generous Prince Louis of Prussia;
-but he had to contend with the personal opinion of Count Haugwitz and
-the Marquis Lucchesini, both strongly in favour of the French cabinet.
-The system of a supine neutrality, therefore, carried the day, and the
-utmost Hardenberg could obtain was permission to assure England that
-they would protect the independence of Hanover, so far as to allow a
-passage to the English troops, should they be attacked or pursued by
-Napoleon.
-
-On this subject the Prussian minister wrote a letter to Lord Harrowby,
-in which rather a remarkable view was taken of the neutrality; a
-certain inclination towards the opinions and sentiments of the
-coalition appeared to filter through it, with a considerable degree of
-irritation with regard to the French cabinet, which had already failed
-to respect the Prussian neutrality.
-
-Baron Hardenberg had been in hopes of obtaining a positive decision,
-which would have placed Prussia in the first rank among nations, for
-150,000 men directed against the flank of Napoleon would have secured
-the victory to Europe, when intelligence was received of the wonders
-achieved at Austerlitz. Napoleon was a gambler on an immense scale! His
-eagle threw the dice of human destiny from his immense claws, and the
-chances had hitherto always been in his favour; but, besides this, did
-he not always quarrel with characters inclined to temporise, and who
-delayed declaring themselves until victory had decided in favour of one
-of the parties? After the battle of Austerlitz was it a time to assume
-a threatening attitude, when Austria and Russia were going to treat
-with the Emperor of the French on a common footing?
-
-Under these circumstances, then, the position of Baron Hardenberg
-became difficult, nay, intolerable, for was he not considered as the
-representative of the warlike party and the opponent of Napoleon? How
-could the minister of the heroic Queen and Prince Louis of Prussia
-remain at the head of the cabinet, when Prussia, prostrate before
-Napoleon, seemed almost to solicit pardon for having assumed, however
-slightly, an attitude of independence? At that time, Napoleon, who was
-incapable of forgiveness, knew well how to ruin a man by dictating
-articles for the _Moniteur_, pronouncing thus a sentence against
-statesmen whom he wished to get rid of. Buonaparte was an excellent
-pamphleteer, and, when he got into a passion, he gave vent in this
-manner to his ill-humour, against a king, a minister, or a general.
-M. Maret used to write from his dictation in short-hand, and send
-it afterwards to the official newspaper, according to his original
-profession of a journalist; he, also, possessed a certain knack for
-composition.
-
-Upon this occasion Hardenberg was honoured by the capricious abuse of
-the Emperor, in consequence of a despatch full of impartiality which he
-had addressed to Lord Harrowby, concerning the neutrality of Hanover. A
-word from Buonaparte to the court of Berlin was sufficient to procure
-the dismissal of the minister, and, having retired from the cabinet,
-he the very same day repelled the attacks of the French emperor, who
-had accused him of not even being a Prussian. "I am proud," said he,
-"of the esteem and confidence of the sovereign and people of Prussia;
-I am proud of the opinion of estimable foreigners, and it is with
-great satisfaction that I number some Frenchmen among them. I am not
-a Prussian by birth, it is true, but I will yield in patriotism to no
-native of that country; and I have obtained a right to assert this
-fact, both by my services, and by having transferred my patrimony, and
-become a proprietor in this country. Though I am not a soldier, I feel
-that I should not have proved unworthy, had fate summoned me to bear
-arms in defence of my sovereign and his rights, or the dignity, safety,
-and honour of the state."
-
-There was a degree of asperity in these expressions as uttered by a
-man who had given up the direction of affairs, without the hope of
-resuming it. He resigned his portfolio to Count Haugwitz, under the
-influence of the Marquis Lucchesini and the secretary, M. Lombard,
-and then, encompassed by the attachment of the Prussian army, and the
-enthusiasm of the universities, he retired into the country, like a man
-to whom the present time is devoid of interest. Some very significant
-proceedings, however, were going on in Prussia; the government had
-adopted extremely moderate measures, and both the king and the cabinet
-were desirous of maintaining the conditions of the French alliance:
-but there was a movement among the people, an energetic expression of
-national feeling, which would not allow this condition of quiet and
-peace to be maintained in the state.
-
-This double situation affords an explanation of the events, and many of
-the faults, of this period; the tergiversations of the cabinet, which
-appeared constantly to have an inclination towards public opinion, and
-then again, especially after the battle of Austerlitz, returned to
-their former dread of the Emperor. At length the king, pressed by the
-people, roused himself, and manifested a chivalrous disposition in
-accordance with the spirit of the nation, and more especially of the
-universities; and it reached such a pitch, that, after the retirement
-of Hardenberg, the people flew to arms in a hasty and adventurous
-manner, and without sufficiently calculating the course they were
-to pursue. And who was to conduct this war? Count Haugwitz, already
-devoted to France, and the secretary Lombard, both creatures of
-Napoleon! One would have said treachery was already determined upon.
-
-Nothing could surpass the campaign of Jena, no praise be too great for
-that admirable military movement directed by the Eagle of Austerlitz.
-But were these splendid victories due entirely to the brilliant and
-energetic courage of the imperial army? had not a series of faults been
-committed by their opponents? and were those who directed the cabinet
-of Berlin perfectly faithful and devoted to the interests of Prussia?
-After the disasters of Jena so many acts of secret treason came to
-light, that Hardenberg, under the influence of Queen Louisa and the
-Emperor Alexander, was again placed at the head of foreign affairs,
-for an inclination to resist the power of France had now sprung up.
-This new situation of the cabinets of Russia and Prussia requires
-some explanation, because it formed the basis of the intimate union,
-which at a later period led to the ruin of the French empire. The
-dissatisfaction before entertained by the cabinet of St. Petersburg
-against Prussia proceeded entirely from the position of indifferent
-neutrality assumed by the latter ever since the treaty of Basle; and
-all the endeavours made by England, Austria, and Russia to induce the
-cabinet of Berlin to break through this mischievous situation had met
-with a refusal, for neutrality appeared to be the fundamental principle
-of the Prussian political system. It was, therefore, satisfactory to
-see Prussia willing to engage in hostilities, though at _the eleventh
-hour_, for her position by that means became clear and decided; and it
-was of little consequence if they had been unsuccessful in the campaign
-of Jena, provided the spirit of their government was in favour of
-war; if, in short, there was a degree of unity and vigour capable of
-supporting the coalesced cabinets.
-
-Baron Hardenberg thus became the representative of the alliance between
-Russia and Prussia. Frederic William having been obliged to evacuate
-Berlin, had fallen back with the ruins of his army upon the Russian
-troops, and then commenced the campaign in the midst of wintry snows,
-the fiercely-contested and sanguinary battle of Prussisch-Eylau,
-where first paled the star of Napoleon! Friedland, however, saved the
-audacious eagle, as Austerlitz had preserved it two years before, and
-treaties were again had recourse to. Who can express the humiliating
-conditions dictated by the victor to Prussia? Who describe the cold
-sarcastic conduct of the fortunate soldier towards the heroic queen,
-the idol of the universities?
-
-Baron Hardenberg, being again compelled to retire, resigned his
-portfolio to the new cabinet formed by Napoleon, from which every mind
-possessed of any degree of independence or elevation was excluded.
-Prussia became almost a department of France, traversed in every
-direction by military roads; the whole population of some districts was
-carried away by the generals of Buonaparte, with blows and violence;
-the universities were closed, and the provinces reduced to the last
-extremity; while such heavy military contributions were imposed, that
-they wrung from the peasant his last hard-earned crown, and even
-his plough and his oxen. People must not treat a country thus, when
-they are desirous of governing it; they should recollect that the
-superiority of a power does not result from violence, but from the
-moral ascendancy produced by protection and support.
-
-But at the side of the public government of Prussia, bowed down before
-the wrath and violence of Napoleon, a number of secret associations
-had been brought into existence, by the oppression of the conquerors;
-and taking the Fatherland for their watchword, they only awaited a
-crisis for vengeance. After the death of their noble-hearted queen
-these associations greatly increased, and the most eminent among the
-patriots, as well as the statesmen out of favour, participated in them,
-for the salvation of the country was at stake. It is incontestable that
-Hardenberg was the _mind_ of this national conspiracy, as Blucher and
-Gneisenau were its _sword_; this secret and magnificent undertaking,
-this moral resistance, advanced with indescribable and undeviating
-energy, during the period which elapsed between 1808 and 1811, and
-then, by a capricious will of the Emperor Napoleon, Hardenberg was
-again destined to receive a mark of confidence from his sovereign, and
-the government of Prussia was once more placed in his hands. I consider
-this to have been the most critical period for Northern Germany; the
-provinces, constantly traversed by French troops, were completely in
-the power of their generals, and that fine country was now nothing but
-a magazine of forage, provisions, and money for the French troops.
-In the midst of these disastrous circumstances, the minister applied
-himself particularly to reinstating some little degree of order in the
-complicated administration of Prussia; he relieved the people as far as
-it was possible, and above all, he endeavoured to reorganise the army,
-firmly, but not openly, for this Napoleon would not have permitted,
-but by a military system which constantly summoned the young soldiers
-to their duties, and then shortly afterwards restored them to their
-families and their homes; a plan which permitted him to have a fine
-army in preparation for future events, at a very moderate expense.
-The system of military reserves is essentially Prussian, because it
-realizes the double idea of a considerable army in time of war, and
-a limited contingent during peace; by this means every Prussian is a
-soldier.
-
-If at this time the Emperor treated Prussia with some little degree of
-respect, if he even called for the concurrence of Baron Hardenberg, it
-was because, being then almost on the eve of undertaking a campaign
-against Russia, he was desirous of engaging Prussia in it as an
-auxiliary; and as the cabinet was already devoted to him, Buonaparte
-sought to enlist popular opinion in his favour, by means of their
-favourite minister. And here a question may be asked, of great
-importance to history. How came Hardenberg to affix his signature to
-the secret treaty which placed the Prussian army under the orders of
-Napoleon? Had he really and in good faith entered into the alliance?
-or had he only signed it with the determination of breaking through
-its conditions at the first check experienced by the French arms? It
-is necessary we should recollect, that with Napoleon there were no
-discussions, no considering the various clauses of a treaty; and the
-correspondence of M. de Saint-Marsan with M. Maret, with the notes and
-explanations of the Prussian minister with the French ambassador, are
-sufficient to carry conviction that nothing was free or spontaneous on
-this occasion: every thing was submitted to from the most imperious
-necessity; there was no choice given of acceptance or refusal, but
-Prussia placed her army and her treasury at the disposal of the
-conqueror, because he had said, _It is my will_.
-
-Now in these necessities, imposed by misfortune, did no gleam of hope
-remain? In politics, no alliances are durable but those resting upon a
-perfect agreement of views and interests. When two people unite because
-they are free and happy, because they feel a mutual esteem and regard
-for each other, because they reciprocally afford and receive important
-services, then, depend upon it, these alliances are durable, these
-treaties will be carefully carried out. But suppose, on the contrary,
-a people vanquished and humbled--a king of Prussia, the descendant of
-Frederic the Great, to whom M. Maret insolently writes, "that he must
-sign a military and diplomatic convention, under pain of captivity;"
-does such a treaty as that form an alliance? is the convention which
-delivers up Berlin to the French army, a treaty between friends and
-allies? or could the plan which parcelled out the Prussian army, into
-divisions under French marshals or generals, be a free, upright, or
-durable proceeding? Surely not: this reconciliation could only be
-momentary; it was imposed by main force, and with the decline of power
-it must come to an end.
-
-In addition to this, the Prussian government could no longer control
-the people of Germany, indignant at the humiliations they were called
-upon to submit to. That Hardenberg was acquainted with the proceedings
-of the secret societies, does not admit of a doubt, neither is it less
-certain that he permitted their developement, in order afterwards to
-avail himself of them, as a powerful instrument against the oppression
-of France; but a circumstance one cannot comprehend is, that it should
-not have occurred even to the inferior mind of M. de Saint-Marsan,
-and the very moderate capacity of M. Maret, that at the first reverse
-experienced by the grand army, all these alliances would be got rid
-of, as something troublesome and offensive--in fact, as a yoke to be
-cast off. To what a degree of humiliation was the House of Frederic now
-reduced! Prussia, in a suppliant attitude, had solicited an alliance
-with the Buonaparte family, and Hardenberg, the principal negotiator,
-had received a cold refusal! Was it possible all this should be
-forgotten? On one side was the recollection of their young and heroic
-queen, who had died broken-hearted, insulted in the public papers,
-and calumniated in pamphlets; and on the other, was a people ground
-down by oppression, but undertaking its own preparations for the day
-of independence; while to the insolence of the chief we must add all
-the harshness of his generals, and of the people employed in levying
-contributions. I do not wish here to mention proper names, but if any
-men are still living who were then employed in the local administration
-of Prussia, let them speak, and say, whether the system to which
-Prussia was subjected, was one possible for her to maintain, in spite
-of all the hopes of liberty inspired by the general rising in Europe?
-and whether it was not natural the conflagration of Moscow should be
-succeeded by other flames?
-
-The most important events in Prussia commenced from this period. The
-fatal campaign of Moscow being concluded, the French army, a miserable
-swarm of fugitives, fell back upon the frontiers of Prussia, so lately
-traversed under different auspices! The corps of Marshal Macdonald was
-compelled to retreat from the siege of Riga, and the brave and faithful
-chief brought back with him the Prussians, especially the division
-of York, long under the influence of the principles inculcated by
-Schill. News suddenly arrived that the Prussians refused to fight, and
-General York addressed a respectful letter to the Marshal, declaring
-his intention of maintaining a perfect neutrality with the Russian
-armies. This defection extended to all the Prussian troops, and excited
-surprise, though it had long been in preparation; in fact, both
-officers and soldiers were all strongly imbued with the doctrines
-of Schill, Stein, and the secret societies; and Prussia, ripe for
-independence, obtained it at last: a bright dawn had begun to appear,
-and wherefore should she not avail herself of it?
-
-Such being the state of popular opinion in Prussia, let us now inquire
-what was the spirit of the cabinet conducted by Baron Hardenberg. He
-had evidently been well acquainted with the existence of the secret
-societies, and the edicts of Breslau, issued on the 3d and 9th of
-February, which gave a military organisation to the _Tugendbund_, were
-drawn up and signed by him; and admirable indeed were these patriotic
-papers, calling upon all the sons of Germany to take up arms in defence
-of the Fatherland! It is necessary to read them, fully to understand
-the pitch excitement had now reached in Germany; all the young men
-between the ages of seventeen and twenty-four, were to take up arms,
-and form volunteer corps, clothed in the dress that had been worn by
-Schill and Stein, that is, the short frock girded with a leathern belt,
-and the little cap usually worn by students. No youth could be married
-unless he had performed this service, nor could he fill any public
-situation unless he had discharged his duty to his country; without
-this there was no hope for him, either in the path of ambition or of
-love. The patriotic edicts were signed by Hardenberg, who was desirous
-of placing himself at the head of popular feeling in Prussia. They were
-thus worded:--"The dangers with which the state is threatened demand
-an immediate augmentation of our military force, at the same time that
-the state of our finances forbids any increase of our expenditure. The
-subjects of Prussia have always been distinguished for their attachment
-to their king and country, and they require nothing to direct them to
-a determined object but a favourable occasion, which may enable our
-brave youth to display the courage which leads them to join the ranks
-of the ancient defenders of their native land, and acquit themselves
-at their side, of their first and noblest duties. It is with this
-object, that his majesty has been pleased to command the formation of
-detachments of yagers, intended to be annexed to the battalions of
-infantry and the regiments of cavalry of which the army is composed,
-so as to summon to military service those classes of the inhabitants
-of the country who are not compelled to it by the laws, and yet whose
-means permit them, to clothe and equip themselves at their own expense,
-and to serve the state in a manner compatible with their situation
-regarding the civil government. It will also afford an opportunity to
-young men of education to distinguish themselves, and become some day
-clever officers, or non-commissioned officers."
-
-The spirit of Prussia was now thoroughly roused and up in arms. At the
-same time Baron Hardenberg was engaged in a negotiation with M. Maret,
-who did not perceive that the Prussian cabinet was merely following the
-stream--that it was, in fact, no longer the king who governed, but the
-people, and that the people were boiling with indignation. Generally
-speaking, the functionaries of the empire did not attach sufficient
-importance to public opinion; the greater part of them, forsooth, were
-too great people, men of too illustrious birth, as every one is aware,
-and they looked down upon the mass of the nation! These men, born of
-the people, raised by them--some being old newspaper-writers, others
-scriveners, or retired attorneys--considered themselves, by the grace
-of God, such great lords and princes, that they paid no attention to
-the vast power which gives laws to kings and states. When Hardenberg
-wrote that he was desirous of forming the plan of an alliance, even
-after the campaign of Moscow, M. Maret's mind was quite at ease on
-the subject of Prussia; and the diplomatic despatches give sufficient
-evidence of the perfect ignorance that existed at Paris as to the
-approaching movement at Berlin: they did not observe that fresh ideas
-were becoming developed, and that the cabinet was no longer master of
-the country. "What is going to happen?" wrote M. de Saint-Marsan to
-the Prussian minister; and, as his sole answer, the latter despatched
-General Krusemarck and Prince Hatzfeld to Paris, bearing soothing
-words. "Prussia is desirous of maintaining peace, and the French
-alliance is pleasing to her, but she requires fresh conditions." Read
-this note from Hardenberg to M. de Saint-Marsan, which describes
-perfectly the situation of Prussia, a situation M. Maret had not
-understood:--"It has occurred to the king, that nothing would more
-advance the great work than a truce, according to which the French and
-Russian armies would retire to a certain distance, and establish lines
-of demarcation, leaving an intervening country. Would his imperial
-majesty be willing to enter into such an arrangement? Would he consent
-to resign the charge of the fortresses of the Oder, of Pilau, and of
-Dantzic (with regard to the latter, conjointly with the Saxon troops,
-as agreed by the treaty of Tilsit), to the troops of the king, and
-withdraw his army beyond the Elbe, provided the Emperor Alexander
-should withdraw his beyond the Vistula? The king has commanded General
-Krusemarck and Prince Hatzfeld to inquire into the intentions of his
-imperial majesty on this head; and he has made similar proposals to
-the Emperor Alexander, as concerning an idea emanating entirely from
-himself, and which can in no way compromise the resolution which your
-sovereign, his imperial majesty, may come to on this point. According
-to what is decided upon at present, the king will regulate his ulterior
-proceedings."
-
-Although Hardenberg's language was somewhat timid, matters were,
-nevertheless, in a state of progression. In her first position, the
-situation of Prussia was that of an ally; in the second, that of
-a neutral power: would she stop there? The arrival of the Emperor
-Alexander at Breslau decided the king upon following the popular
-movement, and the court of Berlin pronounced in favour of the
-coalition; information being conveyed to M. Maret, in a paper drawn
-up by Hardenberg, that Prussia had declared war. This remarkable
-exposition of their causes of complaint against Napoleon contains, more
-especially, a summary of pecuniary grievances, unheard-of violations of
-the various clauses of the treaty, and recollections of the harsh rule
-of the French generals. One circumstance, however, is omitted, although
-it occupied the first place in the mind of the Prussian minister, viz.
-that the country was weary of foreign dominion. The _Tugendbund_ had
-arisen, like an ancient German warrior, armed at all points.
-
-Hardenberg quickly followed up this first despatch by a second,
-addressed to General Krusemarck at Paris, who transmitted it to M.
-Maret. "The Emperor of Russia offers a noble and faithful friendship
-to Prussia, while Napoleon has thrust away his ally, not even having
-condescended to enter into any explanation with her. Prussia has
-endured all the insolence unsparingly heaped upon her by the conqueror;
-all her fortified places have been seized by the French troops; Berlin
-has been occupied, and 94 millions levied upon the country. These
-circumstances render further hesitation impossible; honour commands us
-to draw the sword, and never will we sheath it until an honourable and
-advantageous peace has been obtained."
-
-Baron Hardenberg was now completely in his element; his original
-inclinations bound him to Russia and the Emperor Alexander, and he
-rejoiced in seeing the idea of Queen Louisa accomplished, and the two
-monarchs pressing each other's hands. From this time forward, all
-the efforts of the minister were directed to the developement, and
-organisation of the secret societies. His object was to give a heroic
-impulse to Germany, and, laying aside for the moment all the divisions
-between the Catholic and Protestant parties, he resolved to see nothing
-but the Fatherland thirsting for deliverance from the tyranny of
-Napoleon; he encouraged the young men to carol patriotic songs, and
-excited them to march boldly to battle, without any distinction being
-made between the civilian and the soldier.
-
-Then were seen universities rising _en masse_, and the professors
-themselves leading their pupils to the battle of the giants. The
-engagements of Lutzen and Bautzen have never been considered in a point
-of view which would invest them with a melancholy interest. The flower
-of both countries was there opposed to each other; the conscripts of
-the empire, from the age of eighteen to twenty-one years, and the
-students of the universities bearing the funereal banner of Queen
-Louisa, the oldest of whom did not exceed the age of twenty-two years.
-In the midst of these noble squadrons were heard the thunders of 1500
-pieces of artillery, tearing their youthful and tender bodies, carrying
-off heads, mutilating limbs; yet none of these youths faltered, for
-they were fighting for their country, their common mother.
-
-During this tremendous conflict, the minister did not neglect liberal
-concessions, capable of increasing the enthusiasm of the people.
-Germany, so heavily oppressed, thirsted after liberty, and when the
-people were giving such pledges to the government, it was but just the
-government, in return, should do something for the people. In Prussia
-there is a spirit essentially of organisation, a constant want of
-improvement and progress. All the acts of Hardenberg at this period
-were impressed with a character of liberty; he augmented the municipal
-administrations, all the pecuniary privileges of the nobility and
-clergy were annulled, and, following the ideas of the economic school,
-wardenships and the freedom of cities were abolished. By some acts of
-the cabinet a political constitution was promised to Prussia, although
-it is hardly possible to believe they could ever have thought seriously
-of such a thing for a country whose interests and opinions were so
-disjointed as those of Germany. But at that time Napoleon was regarded
-by the whole world as a great despot; the power raised to oppose him
-must of necessity be the spirit of liberty; and every national feeling
-rose in arms, because the season of oppression must be brought to a
-close. Under these peculiar circumstances, engagements naturally were
-entered into and promises made. To a people capable of such noble
-daring, great concessions might be promised, and in this, Hardenberg
-only followed the impulse that had been given; he pressed the hand
-of Stein, Blucher, and Gneisenau, because their names, like that of
-Suwarow in Russia, were the symbol of the country in arms.
-
-See what name is given in Germany to our disastrous defeat at
-Leipsic--the Victory of the Nations! Yes! it was indeed there, the
-nations overcame the terrible oppressor who had crushed them to the
-dust! It was from the battle of Leipsic, that dated the sudden,
-but prolonged reaction, which finally delivered the people and the
-governments from that giant hand. Accustomed as we are to place the
-character of Napoleon in the highest rank, we will not understand that
-he was the tyrant of Europe, and that even now we are undergoing the
-reaction of two fatal ideas--the recollection of our conquests and of
-our disorganising principles.
-
-After Leipsic, the Rhine was crossed, and Hardenberg did not for a
-moment quit the head-quarters of the Allies: he also represented
-Prussia at the congress of Châtillon. From this moment, in all the
-diplomatic proceedings, as well as in the military operations, Prussia
-always manifested the strongest animosity against the French Emperor;
-she hoped for great reprisals, and would undoubtedly have obtained
-them, had not the general inclination in Europe for peace, and the
-exclusive and generous influence of the Emperor Alexander, swayed the
-negotiations concerning the treaty of Paris, and the restoration of the
-Bourbons. All the political transactions were signed by Hardenberg,
-from his having been the powerful hand which for two years had steadily
-directed public affairs; the King of Prussia conferred upon him the
-title of Prince; and he was invested with that high dignity when he
-accompanied the sovereigns to England.
-
-The sight of the palace of St. James's must have awakened melancholy
-feelings in his mind; in his youth he had there experienced domestic
-sorrow, and been agitated by contending passions; for he had been the
-lover and husband of the Countess Randlaw, the most beautiful woman in
-Germany: she had been lost to him through the means of the Prince of
-Wales, and her seducer was now the Regent of the British islands. But
-they had both grown much older; and when twenty-five years have been
-passed in political agitations and tempests, the heart has been worn
-out by emotion, and but little room is left for recollections of enmity
-and vengeance. Prince Hardenberg was therefore presented to the Prince
-Regent, who received him with marked attention; and the past only
-recurred to their minds, like one of those views which scarcely leave a
-trace in the memory.
-
-From London, Prince Hardenberg repaired to Vienna, to be present at
-the meeting of the great congress, and he had the honour of seeing the
-immense aggrandisement of Prussia sanctioned by successive treaties.
-She now became the kingdom most immediately in an offensive position,
-and was placed in the situation of an advanced post in the coalition
-against France. Those who have investigated the spirit of Europe in
-the remodelling which took place in 1815, can easily perceive that
-the whole system of politics was directed against our country, whose
-influence had caused the most dreadful agitations in all the world
-during the last thirty years. Prussia, which during the revolutionary
-war had almost invariably maintained a neutral position, now received
-such a territorial organisation, as to render it necessary she should
-henceforth be the first to engage in war. This long strip of land,
-which has one extremity on the Niemen, and the other on the Meuse, must
-necessarily strive to extend itself by means of conquest, and in this
-manner the neutrality was avoided, which had occasioned a degree of
-torpor in Europe during the revolution.
-
-An implacable hatred again burst forth, when news arrived at the
-congress of the landing of Napoleon: the young students had but just
-returned to the universities, the _landwehr_ and _landsturm_, disbanded
-but yesterday, were called to resume their arms on the morrow; and
-the closest alliance was renewed in Europe, so as to march at once
-against Napoleon, who, like an adventurous soldier, threw himself
-almost immediately into Belgium and the Rhenish provinces. In this
-military movement, which threatened Prussia, Prince Hardenberg was
-compelled again to appeal to the national troops, who had shed their
-blood on the fields of Lutzen and Bautzen. The same spirit was still
-found in full strength and vigour; Blucher was at the head of the
-Prussian contingent at Waterloo; they fought with the utmost fury, and
-victory having decided in their favour on that plain, fatal to the
-last hopes of Napoleon, the northern provinces of France were soon
-inundated with enemies. In all the proclamations of Hardenberg, and
-all his acts calling Germany to arms, a deadly hatred, a rancorous
-degree of vengeance against France was manifested, in order to rouse
-the courage and the powerful energy of the old Prussian monarchy. This
-irritation was conspicuous at every step taken by the German troops
-on the French territory; they appeared desirous of at once taking
-vengeance for all the humiliations they had undergone during the last
-ten years. Waterloo was not sufficient to appease the anger excited by
-Jena; the recollection of the oppressive dominion of the French was
-fresh in every heart; and it must be confessed, the most rancorous and
-vindictive during the war were not the regular troops, the soldiers
-devoid of mind or imagination, but the young men from the universities,
-the _landwehr_ and the _landsturm_: it was the fair-haired Germans,
-with the short frock and leathern belt, the admirers of Schiller
-and Goëthe, and, more than all, the noble worshippers of the Queen
-of Prussia, who came to claim the spoils of France; for the revered
-image of the heroic Louisa, oppressed and calumniated by Napoleon, was
-mingled in all their dreams.
-
-The despatches of Hardenberg, while the negotiations of Paris were
-in progress, bore the impress of this bent in Germany, and in fact of
-the whole of his German existence. From the time he first took part
-in public affairs, he particularly interested himself in every thing
-concerning the confederation; his influence alone had induced Prussia
-to enter into the system of neutrality and centralisation, which became
-the national law of Germany from the time of the French revolution;
-and now these same interests were placed under his supreme direction.
-Germany, which had so long been endangered by French principles, was
-desirous of reacting against that power; and everywhere declared and
-averred, that Alsace and Lorraine had been taken from her, and that
-they ought to be restored to their elder sister; conquest alone had
-given them to France, and a reverse of fortune might deprive her of
-them. Prince Hardenberg set forth these ideas, and supported them at
-the conference in Paris; he asserted that the Rhine was not natural to
-France, but was, on the contrary, offensive to Germany; Strasburg is
-a threatening position, and so would be Mayence; the Vosges and the
-Moselle were the limits he was desirous of assigning as a disgrace
-to us, and this desire proceeded less from his own mind than from
-the detestation Germany had vowed against us: it was the reaction of
-liberalism against Napoleon, extending almost to the partition of
-France. I have already described how M. de Richelieu preserved us from
-this great misfortune, by appealing to the Emperor Alexander, more
-disinterested in the question of partition, and who interposed in
-favour of our vanquished country.
-
-Notwithstanding this, the sacrifices imposed upon us by the treaty of
-Paris were sufficiently heavy. Hardenberg was one of those who signed
-it, and the influence he had exerted gave him very great claims upon
-the confidence of his sovereign. He became, in the Prussian cabinet,
-the representative of the Anglo-German alliance; renewing the union
-between the Tory party and the German aristocracy, whose fundamental
-principle was a hatred and hostility towards France, dating as far back
-as the battle of Fontenoy, where the troops of the Duke of Cumberland
-were humbled before the fortune of Louis XV.
-
-Although peace was now established, the task of the minister was not
-completed, and a most difficult mission remained to be accomplished.
-The strong national impulse given to Germany by the necessity of
-getting rid of Napoleon, had roused an energetic feeling in favour of
-liberty in every breast; charters and constitutions had been promised,
-and a sort of mystic unity in Germany had been spoken of; and how
-were these promises to be redeemed? This political question, which I
-have already mentioned as so delicate, I may almost say so terrible,
-for Prince Metternich, was still more so for the head of the Prussian
-government. In Austria the popular mind was neither so advanced, nor so
-philosophically organised, as in Prussia; the enthusiasm of the people
-was at bottom only an extreme devotion to the Emperor and the august
-house of Hapsburg; and all they requested in return, was the repeal
-of a few of their taxes, some local liberties, and a little public
-happiness. But in Prussia the desires were not so moderate; all the
-secret societies had visions of a state of things so strangely liberal,
-that Germany would have been nothing more than a republic under a king,
-if a free course had been allowed to their expectations. In order to
-arrive at a regular plan of government, Hardenberg was obliged, even
-in the face of his former promises, to break with the patriot party,
-whose efforts he had so strenuously seconded during the crisis. Blucher
-and Gneisenau, the chiefs of these young men, were anxious for a
-national representative system, and for that purpose they wished the
-secret societies to remain in full force; but Hardenberg demonstrated
-to them that the object of these associations no longer existed, and
-that as to the constitution of the States, the part designated as
-the administration must be separated from the political legislation.
-Under this point of view Hardenberg's theory is particularly worthy of
-remark. According to him legislation belongs to the king alone; and
-it was certainly a right no one would have disputed with Frederic,
-the founder of the kingdom; the administration only belongs to the
-provincial states, as also the power of voting taxes. He established
-this theory by many successive acts, drawn up under his influence;
-and it reached such a pitch, that a royal edict even put a stop to
-the secret societies, as dangerous and fatal. The king's language is
-paternal, and explanatory of his motives; such being the usual course
-pursued in Prussia, where reason and explanation are had recourse to
-with a thinking people.
-
-This second portion of the life of Hardenberg presents exactly the
-reverse of the medal; and such, we may observe, is generally the case.
-The existence of political characters is almost invariably divided
-into two parts: the one, all action and advance; the other, devoted
-to the repression of the ideas they may have favoured in the days of
-their youth and strength. The secret societies occasioned alarm, and,
-perhaps, with some reason, at a time when the strangest theories had
-begun to appear in Germany, and the press was doing mischief. There
-had been a time when it was desirable to rouse Germany, and then every
-thing might be said in favour of Liberty, as it was by her means
-that every thing was to be done; but, after the crisis was over, the
-government would be exposed to sudden and unexpected accusations. In
-the Prussian universities it is permitted to discuss all questions, to
-examine into the most important points of theology and morals; but when
-they come to the application, when the principles of the government
-are actually attacked, there is liberty no longer. All discussion is
-formally forbidden which leads to the examination of the rights of the
-crown or the obedience of the subject, because the head of the state is
-essentially military, and his power is the work of the soldier.
-
-Hardenberg, as minister of the king, took a part in all the acts which
-prepared the Germanic constitution; for Frederic William abandoned
-himself to his long experience, and he was prime minister in the
-fullest sense of the word. To mark how perfectly he was satisfied with
-his services, the king not only wrote to him with his own hand on his
-birthday, but he also, as an agreeable surprise, caused his portrait to
-be placed in the principal apartment of his hôtel.
-
-By the act of the Germanic Confederation a close alliance took place
-between Prussia and Austria, in order that they might share the power
-equally between them; the one in the north, the other in the south;
-Prussia as the representative of the Protestant, and Austria of the
-Catholic system. The German unity was remodelled on that plan, and
-there was no longer any thing but a moral struggle between the two
-nations. Prussia was more advanced in her philosophical ideas, and
-Austria more paternal and provident in her domestic regulations.
-
-The well-established distinction between the administration and the
-political system is particularly owing to the exertions of Hardenberg.
-The administration is careful, economical, and often dishonest; the
-political branch watchful and military, carefully restricting the
-developement of liberty within the most exact limits. After the
-termination of the great transactions of 1816, Hardenberg occupied
-himself only in applying his system of repression to the press, to the
-convocation and to the limited constitution of the States. At Troppau
-and Laybach he supported Prince Metternich's designs, and all the
-measures against the schools were taken in concert with Austria. The
-system of the German universities embraced two main points,--studious
-and intellectual ideas, and political influence. Hardenberg, a highly
-educated man, the friend of Humboldt, Gentz, and Kotzebue, and
-himself distinguished for his literary tastes, was willing to leave
-to philosophy the vast domain where intellect displays, and often
-loses itself; therefore the studies were not restricted in their
-developement, the universities were still left mistress of their
-doctrine, but they were obliged to resign their mysterious influence
-on secret societies, and they no longer formed acting and deliberating
-corps. Science, thought, and philosophy, remained as a grand and noble
-trinity in the domain of the learned, like the school divinity of the
-middle ages.
-
-Political action being restrained, it was easier to bring the
-administration to perfection. The system of Prussian presidencies was
-only a collection of vast prefectures or local administrations, and
-every thing was regulated with so much economy, that the taxes are
-collected with a third less expense than in France.
-
-In this long struggle of every-day labour, the life of Prince
-Hardenberg was worn out; and at Aix-la-Chapelle and Troppau it was
-evident that his strength was beginning to give way. Old age had come
-upon him, and one is astonished a war with parties should have been
-carried on so vigorously by a man who had reached the advanced age of
-threescore and ten. One can imagine the peaceful government of an aged
-man over a peaceful state; but the last four years of Hardenberg's life
-had been the most laborious, because he not only had to contend with
-external powers, but with his own opinions and ideas, hardly five years
-old. He had organised the secret societies, and he was now compelled
-to destroy them. It was not his feelings that had changed, but the
-necessities of Europe, with whom deliverance had passed into repression.
-
-At the congress of Verona, Hardenberg was seen, for the last time,
-exerting all his strength to support the opinions of the Emperor
-Alexander and Metternich, upon the necessity of a war with Spain. His
-last public act was a journey to Rome, to sign a concordat between
-Prussia and the Holy See; and the reconciliation between a Protestant
-state and the head of the Catholic Church was certainly a most singular
-and novel proceeding. Whence did it proceed? and what was the cause
-of it? The excitement occasioned in Europe by the Holy Alliance had
-reunited the various and scattered sovereignties. Their ideas were
-confounded by the necessity of mutual defence, and the various shades
-of opinion were effaced by the urgent anxiety for the repression of the
-democratic principle; so that the Pope was restored by the English,
-Prussians, and Russians, who all belong to different communions. These
-political reconciliations had strengthened the religious feeling, and,
-at this time, the Czar was dreaming of an universal church, by the
-union of all the sects, which offers some explanation how Hardenberg
-might go to Rome to sign the concordat. We must not, however,
-forget that, owing to her new position, and her great acquisition
-of territory, nearly half her population were now Papists, all the
-Rhenish provinces surrounding the great cathedral of Cologne being
-of that profession, and it was necessary to secure the exercise of
-their religion to these people, but half-subject to their new master.
-Hardenberg had still sufficient strength to preside over this treaty;
-he then proceeded to Genoa in search of a milder climate, and had taken
-one of those delightful villas where Lord Byron was accustomed to enjoy
-the charms of a lovely country, when he was surprised by illness and
-death, at the age of seventy-two years.
-
-It was a diplomatic career as long as that of Prince Talleyrand; but
-Prince Hardenberg had not, like him, preserved the polished manners
-and mode of expression which, in his youth, won the hearts of the
-republicans. His speech had become thick and heavy; he spoke French
-well, but with the German accent, that is slightly observable with
-Baron Humboldt. His language was very cold, and appeared the mirror
-of his feelings, which seldom permitted themselves to be excited
-by the imagination; he appeared to be even more a man of business
-than a statesman; and, in fact he has organised, not created, an
-administration which still exists, and gradually advances on the path
-marked out for it by him.
-
-At present, Prussia has done nothing beyond enlarging this system,
-and at the same time stamping it more powerfully with a poetical and
-philosophical tendency; for the ideas and impressions of stormy and
-difficult times are not required in calmer seasons. Prussia appears
-likely to realise the problem of an intelligent people, highly advanced
-in philosophical knowledge, and yet capable of doing without what
-are called constitutional institutions. The idea that proposes to
-centralise and confound every thing, the visionary desire that would
-group Germany around the cathedral of Cologne, is grand and vast; but,
-in order this unity should triumph, would not the first necessary
-condition be, that there should be but one faith, one object of love,
-one system of belief? And how can Protestantism, which is so constantly
-subject to internal dissensions, create unity? To make Berlin the
-capital of science, to cause all the universities to converge towards
-that point, as to an Athens dreamed of by the philosophers, is a noble
-idea of the government; but, on the other hand, what means this license
-against Christianity? Though Frederic the Great received Atheists
-privately at his table, he would never have permitted atheism to be
-publicly taught; and an empire desirous of seeking for unity in science
-and philosophy must lay the first foundations in religion and Christian
-instruction. My opinion, then, is, that the Romish system can alone
-form a powerful bond among the people; otherwise, Cologne restored will
-only present a barren proof of the utter incapacity of Protestantism to
-renew the Catholic union of the arts and religion, as it existed during
-the middle ages.
-
-
-
-
-COUNT NESSELRODE.
-
-
-In the march of generations two distinct periods are observable: the
-one of ardent and vigorous activity, when quiet and lukewarmness are
-vexatious and annoying; the other of fatigue and exhaustion; and, when
-this reaction has taken place, it is necessary there should be at the
-head of affairs, wise and moderate ministers, perhaps even men who are
-themselves weary of too active and busy a life. The great European
-monarchies enjoy an incontestable advantage over freer but more stormy
-governments, in the perpetuity of their system and the lengthened
-career of their statesmen. Look at Austria and Russia during the last
-thirty-three years; they have been under the unvarying direction of
-two ministers, who have alone had the direction of affairs,--Prince
-Metternich and Count Nesselrode; and only the death of Prince
-Hardenberg has deprived Prussia of his services. This perpetuity of
-statesmen is attended with many advantages: it creates a constant
-succession of precedents in the cabinet; it permits the conception of a
-long series of measures, and allows one idea to be followed and worked
-out with perseverance. A young man is selected immediately he has
-finished his studies, and placed in the second or third rank among the
-_attachés_ of an embassy; he next becomes a minister plenipotentiary;
-and, if he rises and distinguishes himself, he obtains a post in the
-_chancellerie_; and when, owing to the confidence of his sovereign, or
-the force of circumstances, he has once been placed in a superior rank,
-he remains there to the end of his life. And what is the result?--a
-most serious attention to all transactions, and a most profound
-knowledge of business: the political situation, which was originally
-the great object of his ambition, now becomes the subject of his
-careful study, and, indeed, his whole existence is bound up in it.
-
-England, always intelligent and clear-sighted, has striven to apply a
-remedy to the instability of men, by the stability of parties. In that
-country there are two schools opposed to each other, the Whigs and the
-Tories; and men from their earliest childhood are destined to belong to
-one, or other of these vast divisions. The universities of Oxford and
-Cambridge receive into their bosom this twofold generation of students,
-who apply themselves to the study of the peculiar ideas which divide
-these shades of parliamentary opinion, and proceed without hesitation
-on the path they have chosen for themselves; and, on quitting the
-university, they support in parliament the opinions in which they have
-been educated, or which they have adopted. Suppose a young man to be a
-Tory, if the Tories are in power he obtains an appointment as one of
-the under-secretaries of state, and only resigns it when his party go
-out of office; should he be a Whig, and the Whigs are at the head of
-affairs, the same thing takes place: every thing is fixed, and proceeds
-according to rule in the government; by that means alone it is known
-whence people come, and they are equally well acquainted with the
-course they are likely to take.
-
-In bringing together the names of Metternich, Nesselrode, and
-Hardenberg, I do not pretend to draw an absolute parallel between them;
-on the contrary, there exists a strong and well-defined difference.
-Metternich and Hardenberg always expressed their own ideas, and were
-the representatives of a system, which they followed with the utmost
-perseverance, and applied through all the changeful course of events
-that occurred in the two great kingdoms committed to their care. They
-were statesmen who had taken office with fixed principles, and their
-whole life was employed in their developement. For instance, the
-self-imposed object of Prince Hardenberg's foreign policy, was the
-increase of the national influence of Prussia against Napoleon; and of
-his internal government, the reconstruction of the States and of the
-Prussian citizen classes. Prince Metternich, in the foreign relations
-of the cabinet of Vienna, especially strove to establish his system of
-armed mediation, and moral influence produced by means of vast military
-establishments; while, to speak the truth, Count Nesselrode has been
-nothing more than the upright and intelligent executor of the will of
-his sovereign: he was the reflected image of Alexander, the faithful
-hand which undertook the execution of his wishes, even of those where
-his personal feelings were most concerned. The position of Nesselrode
-with regard to the Emperors Alexander and Nicholas, might be compared
-to that of the _ministres secrétaires d'état_ under Napoleon; the
-influence he exercises results from his long experience, and from
-the circumstance of his every-day life being passed in the midst of
-politics, which are thus interwoven with all his habits; and this in
-itself confers a great degree of power.
-
-Charles Albert, count Nesselrode, was born at Lisbon in 1770, of
-a noble family of German extraction. His father was minister
-plenipotentiary in Portugal under Catherine II., and some traditions
-exist concerning the cause of this species of exile; there are,
-however, always some of these rather sneering, and random legends,
-current in the _corps diplomatique_, as if for the purpose of unbending
-the brow of official gravity.
-
-Count Nesselrode was still very young at the termination of the
-reign of Catherine,--that extraordinary woman, whose character forms
-so curious a study, because it perfectly represents the state of
-civilisation in Russia; whose political ideas were so masculine, and by
-whom the system of Peter the Great had been constantly followed up and
-advanced. She appeared to effect an alteration in the influence of the
-cabinet of St. Petersburg, which had hitherto been purely oriental, and
-to render it more German and central; being the first step towards the
-predominance in Southern Europe, which was afterwards the ambition of
-her grandson Alexander. Peter the Great had pointed to Constantinople;
-but Catherine considered Warsaw the most favourable point, as a
-position which might enable the Russian power, at a later period, to
-assume in the south the importance which her literary correspondence,
-and political despatches were already preparing. It was solely with
-this view that she encouraged the spirit of the eighteenth century, and
-caressed D'Alembert and Diderot, journalists who were devoted to her
-interests. When Voltaire, with his expression of flattering vanity,
-wrote to Catherine that light came from the north, he foretold the
-consummate ability of the Czarina, which prompted her to make herself
-talked of at any price; "because," as she cleverly observed, "by dint
-of exalting the Russian name, it will at last be made some account of
-in France and in England; we shall no longer be reckoned among the
-barbarians; we shall be talked of at Versailles, in London, and at
-Madrid; and this, in politics, is indispensable, if we are desirous of
-obtaining any ascendancy."
-
-The leading principle of the cabinet of St. Petersburg for the last
-hundred years, has been the agglomeration of Poland, and the expulsion
-of the Turks, whom they are desirous of driving back as far as the
-Black Sea. Poland has fallen; nor was it in the power of any government
-to prevent the ruin of that fated country. A strong antipathy, a deep,
-unmeasured hatred, exists between the Poles and Russians; they are two
-races ready to fall upon each other; two giants, armed at all points,
-constantly contending during six centuries. The most unpopular of all
-proceedings at Moscow, at Kalouga, at Novogorod, and in the old castles
-of the ancient nobility, was the erection of Poland into an independent
-kingdom, organised by Alexander,[47] which occasioned murmurs of
-dissatisfaction on every side. The other object of Russia, the fall of
-Turkey, will also take place sooner or later; it cannot be prevented,
-and, if the government will not undertake it, the people will do it
-themselves. Saint Sophia is required to crown the patriarchate of the
-Greek Church. Of this Europe is well aware; she delays the explosion
-until the proper time has arrived, and determines the various shares
-beforehand: but to prevent it altogether is beyond her power. And some
-day we shall hear that the Russians, with the cross as their banner,
-have marched to the succour of their brethren, and that another empire
-of Constantine has arisen on the Bosphorus. It is so written in the
-book of fate!
-
- [47] _Vide_ art. Pozzo di Borgo.
-
-I am not aware that the Russian cabinet has ever been made the subject
-of consideration in France, in the point of view of its great
-diplomatic ability. The principal source of its predominance has been
-sought in the strength communicated by its armies, and in its absolute
-organisation; but they have been mistaken: the truth is, that there is
-nothing more persevering, or more deeply reflecting, than the Russian
-cabinet; it goes on slowly, without attracting attention by noise or
-tumult. During the last century, the Russian population has increased
-by eleven millions of souls, who occupy more than five hundred leagues
-square of territory, if we include Georgia and the part of Tartary
-united to the government of the Crimea; and, independent of these
-actual conquests, Russia has acquired an undoubted protectorate over
-Moldavia and Wallachia, and such a degree of influence in Persia, that
-no other country would now think of disputing it with her: finally,
-every one is aware of the position she has obtained at Constantinople,
-and also of the efforts made by the whole of Europe to prevent her from
-actually accomplishing the vast projects formed by Peter the Great. In
-order to arrive at this result, nothing has been neglected by Russia;
-neither political protestations, nor appeals to religious feeling,
-have been spared. Knowing exactly where to stop, she never ventures
-too far in an idea; she waits patiently till the opportunity is ripe;
-and, should her system have too much awakened attention, she does not
-overstep certain limits, but makes a momentary concession, and then
-resumes her projects with admirable consistency. As soon as the proper
-season has arrived, and that the obstacles she at first encountered are
-overcome, then Russia progresses straight to the accomplishment of her
-wishes.
-
-Catherine, struck with a fatal apoplexy, had descended to the tomb,
-and the sceptre passed to the Grand Duke Paul, who had been condemned
-to the most profound obscurity, until the moment when he was summoned
-from his solitude to the government of forty millions of people. The
-gloomy singularity of his character has been exaggerated; he has been
-represented as a capricious prince, who would pass suddenly from acts
-of savage tyranny to kindness and tender intimacy; but we must remember
-that Paul came of the blood of Peter the Great, and being incessantly
-surrounded by conspiracies, which threatened both his crown and his
-life, he often formed resolutions which flew at once from unreserve
-to anger, from confidence to sudden fury. Characters generally spring
-from situations, and are what events have made us. Paul had to defend
-his life, which had been endangered by many attempts against it; we
-must not, therefore, be too hasty in our judgment of this prince, but,
-in order to form a fair opinion, we must descend to the depths of the
-national character, and view the general situation of her politics.
-
-Europe had received a vehement impulse from the French revolution. The
-Grand Duke, who was himself threatened by the spirit of revolt, must
-have viewed with but little satisfaction this popular explosion at the
-other extremity of Europe; but the distance of Russia, her financial
-embarrassments, and the accomplishment of the partition of Poland, did
-not permit her to take part in the first coalition against the French
-revolution: the Russians did not join the hostile party until the
-second Italian war, during the campaign of Suwarof. I will not repeat
-the well-known military story; the divisions in the cabinets of Vienna
-and St. Petersburg put a stop to the second coalition: but the Russian
-regiments had seen Italy; they had touched the soil of Switzerland; for
-the first time their breasts had been warmed by the mild rays of the
-southern sun; and, like the invaders of the third and fourth centuries,
-they recollected during the long wintry nights of their icy clime,
-that there were large towns and fair cities in the south of Europe,
-that those fertile lands produced delicious fruits, while the smiling
-plains were crowned with abundant harvests: these recollections lay
-deep in the mind of many a Russian veteran in the years 1813 and 1814,
-and from this time forth the cabinet of St. Petersburg took a part in
-the interests of southern Europe.
-
-The diplomatic career of Count Nesselrode began at the time of the
-embassy of Count Marcoff at Paris, under the Consulate--that wonderful
-period when every thing, government, institutions, and political and
-social ideas, appeared to have been renewed with the vigour of youth.
-The forcible administration of the First Consul easily opened the way
-to negotiations with Russia, for whenever a regular power has been
-established in France, Europe has never attempted to overturn it. Count
-Nesselrode being attached to the embassy in Paris, had the opportunity
-of witnessing the magnificent developement of the power and genius of
-Buonaparte, then First Consul. Who would have foretold that fifteen
-years later, he, as the Chancellor of Alexander, would preside over the
-acts relative to the downfall of the Emperor, and sanction the decrees
-of the senate of 1814 for the restoration of the House of Bourbon?
-
-Paris, at this early period of the Consulate, was an abode full of
-pleasure and enjoyment. The treaty of Amiens had just been concluded,
-peace had been obtained through victory, and people were desirous
-of amusement and repose; they were emerging from the system of the
-Directory, the spirit of good society again raised its head, and
-its rules and customs were eagerly sought for, in order to restore
-it from its ruins. There was a little court at the Tuileries around
-Joséphine; all the ceremonies and etiquette of former times were
-collected with avidity; ambassadors alone had liveries, and their
-splendid equipages shone with double lustre among the half-republican
-assemblage, where there was a long string of hackney-coaches with their
-numbers concealed. Napoleon still reserved all his magnificence for
-his military festivals; his grand reviews on the Place du Carrousel,
-where in the midst of clouds of dust the squadrons of _guides_, and the
-grenadiers of the consular guard defiled, as we see them depicted in
-the pictures of Isabey.
-
-The luxurious splendour of the embassies cast over every thing
-belonging to the legation, an aristocratic gloss which turned the heads
-of this generation; and this may explain the success in female society
-enjoyed by various members of the _corps diplomatique_ at this period,
-and the close and tender intimacies which were afterwards so useful to
-Prince Metternich in his diplomatic _surveillances_. Young Nesselrode,
-like all Russians, spoke French with the greatest fluency, and without
-the decided accent, which all Prince Metternich's talents are unable
-to correct. He had his share of the dissipation of the new court,
-where some young women, as if astonished at their own position, forgot
-themselves, and forgot also that they had the gravest and most serious
-head in the world as their chief. I can hardly say wherefore, but
-nothing has given me a more contemptible idea of society in the time of
-the Consulate, than the perusal of some memoirs that have been written
-in apology for it; beside the wonders achieved by one man, how mean and
-wretched appear the tricks and narrow intrigues of those around him!
-
-The Russian legation was at that time obliged to concern itself, with
-one of the most important questions of maritime rights, and of the
-law of nations. The treaty of Amiens, which never could have been any
-thing more than a truce between France and England, was broken by both
-parties at once; and it is an invidious question to inquire which of
-these two governments, was guilty of the first infringement of the
-treaty: the peace fell to the ground because it was only a momentary
-repose for two cabinets unable to live in peace with each other, on
-account of their gigantic ambition. As soon as war was declared between
-France and England, Napoleon was naturally desirous of carrying on
-hostilities in a vigorous manner, and for that purpose he endeavoured
-to secure the co-operation of some of the continental powers. Paul, who
-was as ardent in his admiration as in his hatred, had conceived a high
-esteem for the First Consul, and Buonaparte, taking advantage of this
-feeling, requested him again to put in force, for the benefit of the
-neutral powers, the principle of the liberty of the sea; a principle
-completely opposed to the ideas and interests of England, for the
-British government never would admit that the flag should protect the
-merchandise. A squadron appeared in the Sound, to act simultaneously
-against Denmark, Sweden, and Russia, who had adhered to the principle
-of armed neutrality. The legation at Paris, under the direction of
-Count Marcoff, based the treaty on the rights of the neutral nations,
-being the developement of a grand maritime idea renewed by Louis XVI.
-
-A change, however, soon took place, for, as if stricken by a
-thunderbolt, Paul fell a victim to a conspiracy. The mysterious horrors
-of that awful night have been recorded in history. The mild and
-romantic Alexander was placed on the throne of his father, who appeared
-almost immediately inclined to proceed to warlike measures against
-France and Napoleon; and accordingly the influence exercised by England
-over the cabinet of St. Petersburg was very considerable. The Russian
-legation quitted Paris, and as it had lately exhibited great activity
-in obtaining information that was not favourable to the ideas of
-Napoleon, Count Marcoff was on the point of being arrested, and there
-was a good deal of hesitation whether he should receive his passports.
-These acts of violence were a habit of Napoleon, for even the barrier
-opposed by the law of nations to his will was displeasing to him, and
-he was always on the eve of breaking through it.
-
-The part played since this period by Count Nesselrode, and the
-importance of the negotiations between Russia and France, render
-it necessary to explain the organisation of the highest class of
-the _corps diplomatique_, as it exists in the Russian empire. The
-Emperor being the supreme head of the army, of the government, and
-of the church, all the authorities depend upon him, and consequently
-he reserves to himself the entire direction of what is called the
-_Chancellerie_. This _chancellerie_ appoints agents, who, under the
-title of ministers or ambassadors, represent officially their sovereign
-at foreign courts; it also exercises much activity and vigilance, and
-keeps a watch upon the ambassadors, who are often compelled to collect
-the most minute information--a proceeding not at all in keeping with
-their elevated rank, for the shades are almost imperceptible between
-what is allowable, and what is forbidden in diplomatic affairs; and,
-as I have before stated, this ambiguous situation often induced the
-Emperor Napoleon to be almost violent in his measures against the
-Russian ambassadors, when he found they obtained statements of the
-military establishments, and secret conventions, so as to become
-masters of the most carefully guarded secrets of the cabinet.
-
-Independent of these people, who are officially accredited, the Czar
-despatches aides-de-camp, without any positive commission except that
-of travelling, or perhaps being the bearers of some complimentary
-message; and these officers examine into every thing and send reports,
-not only regarding the government and the population they are
-deputed to inspect, but even concerning the Russian agents. To recall
-an example: under the Emperor Napoleon, in 1811, the aide-de-camp
-Czernitcheff made two or three journeys to Paris, ostensibly to
-compliment the Emperor, and to carry him autograph letters from the
-Czar; and then he returned to Russia with a statement of all the
-military strength of the country, which had been given him by an
-_employé_ in the war-office--information that was of the greatest
-possible service to Russia in the defence of 1812. In addition to all
-this, when the Czar takes the field a great number of general officers
-unite diplomatic missions and services, to their military titles;
-as, for instance, Count Pozzo di Borgo, as we have before observed,
-attended at the same time to the strategic operations, and to the
-arrangements in the cabinets, which might secure their developement.
-When England, who was the first to follow this plan, granted subsidies
-to a power, she always sent a commissioner with each army to follow the
-campaign.
-
-Count Nesselrode was early attached as a councillor to the private
-_chancellerie_ of the Czar, who soon discovered him to possess
-a faithful disposition, great and solid erudition, a serious
-understanding, and a spirit of ready obedience that would willingly
-support his sovereign will. Count Nesselrode took especial pains to
-please Alexander, whose mind was too full of his own ideas to bear any
-impulse that was not given by himself. At the time of his departure
-for the interview at Erfurt, it was evident that three ideas in
-particular possessed the minds of the members of the cabinet of St.
-Petersburg. The one, entirely Russian, observed with feelings of grief
-and humiliation, the alliance between Alexander and the head of the
-French government; a strong dislike was felt by the old Muscovites
-to the greatness of the new empire; the noble Sclavonian detested
-the proud and arrogant _parvenus_. They did not wish for an open
-rupture with France, but the engagements entered into by the treaty of
-Erfurt, the intimacy between the two crowns, which had been formed by
-the fascinations of Napoleon--all this, I say, was a source of great
-displeasure to the old aristocracy, to the successors of those Boyards
-who claimed the feudal government of the Russian provinces.
-
-The second school of this diplomacy was in some degree Greek and
-Oriental. Napoleon had been desirous of satisfying some of the projects
-of Russia by the treaty of Erfurt; and as he was then dividing
-the world with Alexander, he conceded to him the full and entire
-realisation of the plans of Catherine, agreeing that Constantinople
-should be his in a few years, Ispahan and Persia in the course of
-time; they even spoke of the independence of Greece, and consequently
-of the possibility of an insurrection among the Hellenic and Syrian
-population. Napoleon had long revolved these projects in his mind; in
-fact, had not the general of the army of Egypt already had an idea of
-appealing to the Christian profession, as a means of rousing the Copts
-and Syrians against their Ottoman masters? Some maxims of liberty were
-to be attached to the Greek school of diplomacy, and they were brought
-forward some years afterwards at the congress of Vienna by Count Capo
-d'Istria.
-
-The third diplomatic school, which was to a certain degree founded by
-Count Nesselrode, consisted in taking a middle course between the two
-former systems. The young Count had never been devoted to the plans
-proposed at Erfurt, and he did not for a moment allow himself to be
-carried away by the gigantic projects then determined upon in a moment
-of enthusiasm; he did not identify himself either with the Greek or the
-German school, nor even entirely with the Muscovite, in its repugnance
-for Napoleon. What Alexander particularly remarked was, the perfect
-obedience of his minister to all his wishes, though he sometimes strove
-to infuse a little moderation into his decisions, when their tendency
-was too abrupt or positive to be advisable in political affairs.
-Nesselrode always executed the orders of his sovereign, but in so doing
-he tempered the expressions of enthusiastic mysticism which often
-characterised the politics of the Czar; he did not attempt to give an
-impulse, but he endeavoured to prevent the will of his master from
-going too far.
-
-The commencement of Count Nesselrode's favour dates especially from
-the French expedition to Russia. The movement, still more national
-than military, which repulsed this gigantic undertaking, naturally
-took its source from the old Muscovite families, and in the savage
-energy against which the Czars, ever since the days of Peter the Great,
-have struggled in vain; and Alexander, whose education and principles
-rendered him particularly averse to this return of barbarism, felt the
-need of a confidential friend, in whose bosom he might confide his
-fears of the results to be apprehended from this Muscovite tendency,
-which went beyond his own ideas and wishes. Count Nesselrode became one
-of these confidential servants, and as early as 1812, although he did
-not fill the official situation of _conseiller d'état_, he took the
-principal part in the prodigious diplomatic movement then in progress;
-he concluded and signed the treaty of the subsidies with England, and
-the secret alliance of the two great powers against Napoleon, which
-completed his political fortune.
-
-The intimacy between Count Nesselrode and Prince Metternich began in
-the course of the negotiations at the congress of Prague. As I have
-before observed, it is impossible to institute a comparison between
-these diplomatists; Prince Metternich being the creator of a system,
-while Nesselrode was merely employed in executing, or perhaps in
-moderating an idea, which was not always his own. Count Nesselrode was
-not the official plenipotentiary at the congress of Prague, the full
-powers being entrusted to M. d'Anstett, a man of considerable ability,
-but hardly likely to be very favourably inclined to a peaceable system,
-for he was a French _émigré_; however, the impulse and the direction of
-the whole business emanated entirely from Alexander, and consequently
-from Count Nesselrode, the most faithful and devoted of his
-representatives. It was then, as we cannot but feel, of the greatest
-importance, to induce Austria to join the coalition of the Allies
-against Napoleon, for upon it depended the success of the campaign of
-Germany; but Metternich was far from being decided in favour of this
-step, and he wished to oblige them to purchase the co-operation of
-Austria at a very high price: the negotiations, however, were conducted
-with great ability by Count Nesselrode, and at the conclusion of the
-congress of Prague the alliance of Austria was well secured to the
-coalition. The Russian minister arranged in the name of his sovereign
-all the articles of this treaty, which calmed the fears of Austria, by
-assigning to her an advantageous frontier in Germany and Italy.
-
-A new element had just manifested itself in the Russian diplomacy,
-General Pozzo di Borgo having arrived at head-quarters, after
-accomplishing his mission to Bernadotte, crown-prince of Sweden. Count
-Pozzo was the friend of the disaffected generals of the Empire; and his
-constant thought, and the master-passion of his soul, was his desire
-to bring about the ruin of his ancient rival, whom he considered as
-the oppressor of Europe. It was necessary for Count Nesselrode, if not
-exactly to contend with this influence over the mind of Alexander,
-at least not entirety to concur in it; for he, like Metternich, for
-a short time considered it might be possible to treat with Napoleon,
-and to impose such a degree of restraint upon his military power, as
-to prevent him from injuring the German independence, or the security
-of the interests and relations of the States. On this head Nesselrode
-perfectly agreed in the opinions of Alexander, who, during the campaign
-of 1813, was as far from desiring the downfall of Napoleon, as from
-wishing to interfere with the form of government in France; there was
-then quite enough to do in Germany, the Rhine had not yet been passed,
-and the question concerning the deposition of the French Emperor did
-not occur until 1814. Count Nesselrode having been present at the
-interview at Abo, between the Czar and Bernadotte, it was impossible
-he should be ignorant that questions had been raised concerning
-certain possible events, among which the chance of another form of
-government being established in France was spoken of. Those who have
-some knowledge of the state of the case, are well aware that nothing
-could be more vague and undecided than all that was settled in this
-interview, if we except the close alliance between Russia and Sweden,
-and certain decisions concerning their territorial claims. The Emperor
-Alexander conversed with Bernadotte about the plan of the campaign, and
-the state of the public mind in France, as well as concerning all the
-possibilities and chances that might be the consequence of the war; and
-Bernadotte in his turn naturally spoke of his grievances, and of the
-injuries which, as a Republican general, he had been exposed to from
-Napoleon, and for which he retained a strong dislike to him: but there
-was no talk of any change, and they entered into no positive agreement
-to overturn the sovereign who then reigned in France.
-
-During the campaign of 1814, there was as much activity in the
-negotiations as even in the military operations; and when the Allies
-had once passed the Rhine it was considered necessary diplomacy
-should follow all the phases of the war, so as to be ready to reply
-to the proposals that might be made by the Emperor of the French,
-and also to resolve all the difficulties they might encounter. The
-arrival of Lord Castlereagh on the Continent greatly facilitated the
-transactions regarding the subsidies and the equipment of the troops;
-and the treaty of Chaumont was signed by Count Nesselrode, as well as
-by the plenipotentiaries of the other allied powers. The ascendancy
-acquired by England just then was so great, that she may almost be
-said to have alone given the impulse and direction to all the acts of
-the cabinet; it must, however, be acknowledged, that as she furnished
-the sinews of war, it was very natural she should fix positively the
-use to which they were to be applied. Count Nesselrode arranged with
-Lord Castlereagh the method of issuing the pay of the troops, and the
-diplomatic result of the campaign.
-
-The sad events of the war brought the Allies to Paris; and the moment
-was decisive for that portion of the senate which, under the direction
-of Talleyrand, D'Alberg, and Jaucourt, wished for the fall of Napoleon.
-A provisional government was established, after the occupation of the
-capital. There could be no hesitation in the choice of alliances, for
-the support of Alexander was indispensably necessary to accomplish the
-ruin of the imperial system, whose hour was come! For this purpose,
-however, it was essential to obtain the concurrence of Nesselrode,
-the minister who had signed all the diplomatic acts concluded in the
-last three years; and even had they considered him as a mere secretary
-(Alexander being accustomed to act very much for himself), they would
-naturally have been desirous of engaging him in the interests of the
-provisional government.
-
-As soon as Alexander entered the French territory, the disaffected
-placed themselves in communication with his cabinet. I have already
-mentioned the mission of M. de Vitrolles, who, with a view to the
-restoration, had informed the Czar of the state of the public mind; and
-Count Nesselrode had hardly arrived in Paris before he was surrounded
-and assailed by a thousand conflicting intrigues and negotiations
-of all sorts, for the purpose of inducing his cabinet to decide in
-favour of the Bourbons. It was the general bent of the period, as the
-revolutionary principle had been that of a former era. The first steps
-taken by the Russian minister were full of caution; he wanted to feel
-his way and judge of the public feeling, and it was also necessary to
-induce Prince Schwartzenberg, who commanded the active army, to make an
-open demonstration in favour of the Bourbons; yet, at the same time,
-they were not quite certain what was the ultimate decision of Austria,
-and, more especially, of Prince Metternich. All the papers written
-about this time by Count Nesselrode bear evidence of this complicated
-situation; he, however, spoke in plain terms in an official letter
-addressed to M. Pasquier, that he might set at liberty some people
-arrested on account of _the good cause_, and this _good cause_ was the
-restoration of Louis XVIII.
-
-It was evident from this expression of opinions favourable to
-legitimate sovereignty, that the decision had been made before it was
-officially announced. Never, perhaps, at any time had more activity
-been displayed than at this period; Nesselrode must remember it as
-the most brilliant and busy part of his life. His _salon_ never was
-empty; at one time Caulaincourt, with full powers from the Emperor,
-solicited peace; at another, the marshals of the empire stipulated
-for the rights of the army, and a special treaty for Napoleon; then,
-again, Talleyrand, D'Alberg, and De Jaucourt, came to press the Russian
-minister to put an end to all uncertainty by pronouncing the downfall
-of Buonaparte; and, finally, the royalists devoted to the Bourbons,
-such as Sosthènes de la Rochefoucauld, and De Vitrolles, endeavoured to
-obtain the triumph of the ancient dynasty.
-
-After these various negotiations, the declaration of the Emperor
-Alexander, announcing to France that they would not treat with
-Napoleon, was agreed to in the cabinet. This remarkable declaration was
-drawn up by Pozzo di Borgo; it was printed by means of a hand-press at
-the hôtel of Prince Talleyrand, in the Rue St. Florentin, and thousands
-of copies were thrown from the balconies. It was a great party stroke
-for the house of Bourbon, for from that time its cause was secure. It
-has been reported that the resolution of Count Nesselrode was decided
-by immense diplomatic presents; but one should generally regard with
-distrust the various stories that are current after political events
-have been accomplished: there is less corruption than people imagine
-in public business. At the same time it is very probable that some
-gratitude would be manifested after so important an act; secret
-presents almost invariably accompany the signature of stipulations in
-all diplomatic transactions--it is an old custom, and, no doubt, the
-value of these presents was increased in consequence of the immense
-importance of the service rendered; but this is all that historical
-impartiality can say on the subject.
-
-This season of 1814 was very brilliant for Count Nesselrode; there was
-nothing at Paris but _fêtes_ and flowers. The moderation of Russia had
-swayed all the resolutions and softened the conditions of victory, and
-the Emperor Alexander enjoyed a great reputation as the symbol of peace
-and the expression of magnanimity in the midst of triumph. England
-and Austria were quite cast into the shade, nobody was spoken of but
-Alexander, and this celebrity was reflected upon Count Nesselrode in so
-great a degree as to occasion a feeling of jealousy in Metternich, who
-had hardly any thing to do with the transactions at Paris in 1814. The
-Austrian minister awaited his turn at the congress of Vienna. The first
-occupation of our capital was the _apogée_ of the moral omnipotence of
-Russia in the affairs of southern Europe.
-
-Here it is necessary I should mention all the difficulties of
-Nesselrode's situation. Nothing could be more changeable and more prone
-to sudden impressions than the mind of Alexander, who passed from one
-enthusiastic fancy to another with inconceivable rapidity; when he
-had taken up one idea it was difficult to put it out of his head; and
-if you followed in the same track, some time afterwards he would meet
-with some other fancy, which he adopted with equal warmth. We may,
-therefore, imagine how difficult was the part of a secretary of state
-desirous of giving some consistency to these projects, of classing them
-in a certain order, and of producing any result from them all. From the
-close of 1813, Alexander had been deeply imbued with the mysticism of
-Madame Krüdner, and he mingled with his manifestoes on the principles
-of Europe, and his theories of peace and war, a species of ascetic
-worship and enthusiastic superstition very difficult to translate or
-apply to the real business of life, and of which the ultimate object
-was not always understood by powers like England and Austria.
-
-At the congress of Vienna they had to treat of serious affairs, and
-it was necessary to give a positive meaning to the vague conceptions
-of Alexander, and translate theories into treaties. Poland was
-occupied by a Russian army, and the diplomatists of the old Muscovite
-school, in hopes this occupation would become permanent, pressed the
-annexation of Poland to Russia, without a constitution or any free
-state privileges. Alexander, who was desirous of wearing the crown of
-Poland, was entirely opposed to these demands, and wanted to collect
-the ruins of that kingdom into one system of political organisation;
-and Count Nesselrode faithfully executed this idea of his sovereign at
-the congress of Vienna. The question of Poland was his sole anxiety, as
-the integrality of Saxony and the restoration of the House of Bourbon
-at Naples was the exclusive thought of Prince Talleyrand.
-
-At the congress of Vienna Nesselrode formed an intimacy with Prince
-Hardenberg. Russia had supported the pretensions of Prussia, the
-States had been bound to each other by means of political and family
-arrangements, and, for the future, Prussia was destined to act as
-the advanced guard of Russia, in her projects of influence over the
-south of Europe. Russia was too busy with her own affairs to observe
-the sort of underhand alliance forming between England, France, and
-Austria, against Alexander's design of instituting a kingdom in Poland,
-dependent on a viceroyalty of the czars. Nesselrode had to contend at
-once with Metternich and Hardenberg, who were both afraid of seeing the
-portion of Poland that had accrued to them at the time of the first
-partition escape from their grasp; Austria fearing for Gallicia, and
-Prussia for the districts beyond the Vistula. The other opposition the
-Russian minister had to overcome was, as I have before observed, that
-of the old Muscovite families, who murmured at seeing the organisation
-of Poland with an independent constitution and a degree of national
-liberty. Great difficulty existed in this quarter, although Nesselrode
-had not entered as warmly into this project as his sovereign had done,
-but had taken a middle course, in order to avoid a misfortune with
-which he had at one time appeared threatened.
-
-But all these divers interests were confounded by the astounding news
-of Napoleon's landing in the Gulf of Juan. The Emperor Alexander, whose
-mind was more than ever impressed with the mystic and liberal ideas of
-the German school, did not hesitate a moment in lending his powerful
-aid to the coalition. Madame Krüdner had persuaded him that the _white
-angel_, Peace, was to overcome the _black angel_, which presided over
-battles, and that the part of mediator and preserver of the human race
-was intended for him. The immense armies of Russia, therefore, marched
-against the _black angel_ (Buonaparte). I will not enter into the
-military details of the Waterloo campaign; suffice it to remind the
-reader that the Russians, who had afforded such decisive support during
-the invasion of 1813 and 1814, upon this occasion only arrived with the
-third division after the struggle was over, which explains the reason
-why the influence of England and Prussia was paramount in France during
-the transactions of 1815.
-
-I have elsewhere given an account of these negotiations;[48] the
-Emperor Alexander constituted himself the protector of the French
-interests, being led to do so as much by the natural generosity of his
-disposition as by a certain degree of national rivalry, which already
-began to appear between Russia and England. Nesselrode's influence
-over the mind of the Emperor was quite as powerful as that of Pozzo
-di Borgo, and we must acknowledge that they rendered us the most
-essential service, by preserving us from a partition of our territory,
-and a pecuniary indemnity beyond the power of France to discharge.
-Still the treaty of Paris stands in evidence, that we were obliged to
-submit to very painful sacrifices and heavy humiliations.
-
- [48] _Vide_ articles "Pozzo di Borgo" and "Richelieu."
-
-Just at this time the influence of Nesselrode was endangered by a rival
-in Alexander's favour; I allude to Count Capo d'Istria.
-
-Capo d'Istria was born in the Ionian islands, in the midst of the Greek
-population, which have so often been encouraged by Russia to strive
-for their liberty, ever since the time of Catherine II. He was the
-friend of Ipsilanti and of all the ardent generation who fought for
-the independence of their country. At a very early age he had been
-employed in secret and mysterious negotiations. However the cabinet
-of St. Petersburg might be situated with regard to the Porte--let
-the relations of the two countries be what they might, Russia, for
-the last century, had never ceased to favour secretly the efforts of
-Greece to shake off the Ottoman yoke. Alas! had she not had frequent
-cause for self-reproach on this subject? More than once she had
-instigated the Greeks to revolt, and then, when all their efforts had
-proved ineffectual, she had not dared to defend them openly in the
-face of Europe; for she was closely watched by England and Austria,
-who denounced to the Divan the slightest action of the unfortunate
-Hellenists--even the groans of an oppressed people were not allowed
-to pass in silence. When, therefore, Capo d'Istria was admitted to
-the confidence of the Emperor, the cause of the Greeks enjoyed the
-advantage of a constant advocate, and a warm, faithful representative.
-His credit dated from the negotiations in Switzerland in 1815, whose
-result was a new act of mediation under the threefold influence of
-Austria, Russia, and Prussia. Capo d'Istria was afterwards appointed to
-divide with Nesselrode the ministry for foreign affairs.
-
-It was, as I have before observed, a complete rivalry, for Count
-Nesselrode had entirely adopted the ideas of the European school.
-Since the year 1812, he had followed the political system opposed
-to the military principle of the French revolution, now pursued in
-concert by all the cabinets of Europe, whose ruling desire, from the
-year 1816, had been the repression of the liberal movement engendered
-by the resistance of the people to the conquests of Napoleon.
-Nesselrode perfectly agreed with Metternich on this point, and the
-Emperor Alexander's partiality for the liberal and Hellenic school
-of Capo d'Istria was a source of sorrow and vexation to them both.
-The difficulties they had to encounter were of a complicated nature,
-for religious feelings were mingled with political ideas--there
-was strong sympathy between the two churches of Moscow and Athens,
-and the patriarchs were in constant communion with each other. It
-was impossible openly to attack Alexander on this point; all that
-Nesselrode could do in opposition to Capo d'Istria, was to spread the
-alarm in every direction concerning the fearful progress made by the
-spirit of insurrection.
-
-As early as the close of 1815, the Emperor Alexander had conceived
-the project of the Holy Alliance--an idea resulting from the mystic
-and religious fancies of Madame Krüdner, but involving at bottom very
-positive resistance to the spirit of revolt; for the Holy Alliance
-was nothing more than a contract of mutual support, a sort of bond
-entered into by all the crowned heads against the revolutionary
-movement in Europe. Metternich and Nesselrode were certainly not the
-men for ideal transactions--there had been too much reality and
-matter of fact in their lives; still they saw the cabinets adopt these
-measures with satisfaction, as they both entertained hopes of bringing
-over the Emperor to their way of thinking; and, indeed, the general
-course of events at that time appeared to favour the common idea of
-Metternich and Nesselrode, for the secret societies in Germany had
-been greatly developed, and kept Prussia and Austria in a state of
-perpetual anxiety. They sent repeated despatches to St. Petersburg,
-and Nesselrode secretly supported the ideas of the alarmed cabinets.
-Thus the liberal plans advocated by Capo d'Istria met with secret
-opposition, and more than once the Emperor Alexander remained undecided
-among the various tendencies which disputed among themselves his mind,
-his power, and his affections.
-
-Events, however, were progressing in a manner likely to weaken the
-credit of Capo d'Istria, and augment that of Nesselrode. The Polish
-senate had been the especial creation of Alexander, it was the work
-of his own hands; and this senate, by an ill-advised resistance, had
-just deeply offended the will of the sovereign--a circumstance which
-might have been considered as a legal act, in a long-established
-government, was construed into an armed and criminal revolt; and the
-Czar suddenly issued harsh and firm resolutions regarding Poland. The
-strong repressive measures advocated by Nesselrode and Metternich thus
-regained their place among the ideas of the European system; from the
-same cause the influence of Capo d'Istria visibly lost ground with
-the Emperor, and with his influence declined the idea of a Christian
-insurrection in Greece.
-
-Capo d'Istria, as I before observed, was favourably disposed towards
-his countrymen the Greeks, who, by a spontaneous movement, had shaken
-off the yoke of the Porte; and he urged Alexander immediately to
-interfere, by causing a Russian army to appear on the Pruth and an
-imperial fleet in the Mediterranean. The revolt of the Greeks was
-observed with great anxiety by Metternich; the house of Austria,
-being considered as the protectress of the Divan, made every possible
-effort to avoid a conflict calculated to injure the Ottoman influence,
-which was necessary to the balance of power in Europe: consequently,
-it was the object of Austria to persuade Alexander that the real
-spirit evinced by Greece was that of revolution, where Capo d'Istria
-saw nothing but a religious question; and in this opinion Nesselrode
-perfectly concurred. He considered that the actual state of Europe
-would not admit of the emancipation of a people, for rebellion was
-every where forming against the crowned heads, and Greece was merely
-employed as a pretext.
-
-The moment was well chosen to infuse these alarms into the mind of the
-Emperor, the bent of the German universities having just manifested
-itself by the assassination of Kotzebue; Piémont had taken up arms,
-Naples was in a state of insurrection, and Spain had proclaimed the
-Cortes. Metternich, in concert with Nesselrode, then returned to the
-idea of congresses, those great fusions of the sovereignties, according
-to the course that had been settled by the Holy Alliance.
-
-The diplomatic school had rather a predilection for this assembling
-of Europe--those meetings in which all the statesmen of the various
-countries met on friendly terms to discuss the affairs of the
-Continent. The same passion for congresses was to be observed in
-Talleyrand, Metternich, Hardenberg, and Nesselrode; it was a habit they
-had formed, a desire of appearing and playing an important part on the
-diplomatic stage. The Emperor Alexander was also fond of these great
-_réunions_ because he was consulted as an arbiter, the princes of
-Europe trusting both to his experience and to his magnanimity.
-
-Nesselrode accompanied the Emperor to Troppau and Laybach; those who
-studied the character and deportment of both observed that their minds
-appeared to be undecided: there was a kind of uncertain hesitation
-between the liberal ideas they had lately entertained and the strongly
-repressive tendency advocated by Austria. Metternich made use of all
-his talents and influence to convince the Emperor of the dangers by
-which all the European sovereignties were threatened, if they did not
-decide upon one of those great military demonstrations which, by their
-overwhelming force, at once made an end of rebellion; when, just at the
-most critical moment, intelligence was brought to the Russian minister
-of a mutiny that had taken place in one of the regiments of guards at
-St. Petersburg. This news quickly determined the Emperor's opinion;
-Nesselrode received orders to enter with the utmost vigour into the
-plans proposed by Austria, and the downfall of Capo d'Istria appeared
-impending.
-
-One thing must be particularly observed in this struggle between
-liberal principles and those of absolute dominion; and that is, that
-Capo d'Istria had always been the faithful interpreter of an idea of
-independence for Greece, consequently, when liberal opinions were in
-the ascendant, he was not likely to continue in favour. The great
-misfortune of the Greeks at this moment, and what retarded their
-emancipation, was the circumstance of their insurrection taking
-place at the same time as the revolt in Piémont and the proclamation
-of the constitution of the Cortes; rendering it difficult always
-to discriminate exactly between an unruly military movement which
-terrified the regular governments, and the noble spectacle of Greece,
-with a spirit worthy of her forefathers, raising the holy symbol of
-her religion on her banners, stained and torn in many a former heroic
-struggle. Capo d'Istria's affection for Greece led to the loss of the
-Emperor's favour; and he, the protector of the Hellenists, was stabbed
-to the heart by a Greek,[49] affording a melancholy proof of the
-ingratitude of revolutions.
-
- [49] Count Capo d'Istria was murdered in September, 1831, by the
- brother and son of a Mainote he had imprisoned.--_Ed._
-
-Then took place the intimate fusion of the Russian and Austrian system
-of politics, occasioning the absolute triumph of Metternich; and this
-situation was continued at the congress of Verona under Nesselrode,
-from that time forth sole minister of Russia, and chief of the
-_chancellerie_ under Alexander. At the congress of Verona he held the
-pen, and all the resolutions regarding Spain were taken in concert;
-the diplomatic notes were drawn up by the two ministers together;
-Metternich wrote to the Austrian minister at Madrid, while Nesselrode,
-recalling the Russian ambassador, fulminated a sentence of proscription
-against the Cortes. It was no longer the liberal and generous Alexander
-they had to deal with, but an imperious prince, who, through his
-ministers, laid down the law in a sovereign and dogmatic manner. When
-M. de Villèle craftily objected for a short time to engage in an
-expensive and hazardous campaign, Nesselrode, without the slightest
-hesitation, wrote to him, in the name of the Emperor, that Russia was
-determined to venture every thing in order to repress the spirit of
-revolt in the Peninsula. The impulse was so powerful it was no longer
-possible to resist it.
-
-The close of Alexander's life was greatly harassed by these feelings;
-the sacred cause of the Greeks weighed upon his mind as a subject
-of remorse, and the sorrow it occasioned him was imprinted on his
-countenance, which now bore the appearance of ill health. Yet what
-was to be done? The panic of impending revolutions had seized upon
-his mind, and delivered him over to a thousand terrors, for his dread
-of the spirit of the secret societies was extreme. Liberalism filled
-him with alarm, he viewed it as a spectre threatening him with the
-seditions that might arise in his empire, and he did not comprehend
-that the most effectual means of employing the national effervescence
-of the Russians would have been to march them against Turkey for the
-deliverance of Greece. The causes of the unexpected death of Alexander
-have formed the subject of much inquiry; perhaps this acute sorrow was
-not entirely unconnected with it: he was a man of a deeply religious
-mind, with a mild disposition and a tender and impressionable heart;
-thus he felt deeply for the sufferings of Greece. Every stroke of a
-yataghan which caused the head of a woman or child to roll in the dust,
-among the ruins of Athens or Lacedæmon, made his heart bleed.
-
-Soon after Alexander had been gathered to his fathers, a commotion, at
-once political and military, took place in Russia. In southern Europe
-people are not sufficiently acquainted with the character of the noble
-family of the Czar: there was a degree of enthusiasm in the filial
-affection entertained by the Emperor Alexander for his aged mother, and
-the deepest respect existed in the hearts of Constantine and Nicholas
-for their elder brother Alexander. His death took them all by surprise,
-and upon his tomb burst forth the military movement prepared by the
-secret societies, and by a generation of young officers, dreaming of
-the old Sclavonian independence.
-
-Was the accession of the Emperor Nicholas likely to make any
-alteration in Nesselrode's position? One powerful reason which
-operated against any diminution of the minister's influence was the
-respectful admiration of Nicholas for the policy and the opinions of
-his deceased brother, and being also inexperienced in business, he
-considered it indispensable to surround himself with the men who had
-been acquainted with the politics of Russia ever since the great epoch
-of 1814. These men of traditions are essential to governments; they
-preserve the history of all the precedents in the cabinets; they know
-what has been the conduct of Europe during a long series of years,
-what are the springs by which she has been actuated, and the acts she
-has been called upon to concert; comprising information of the most
-essential utility for the comprehension of treaties and the conduct of
-negotiations: besides this, it was impossible to deny that Nesselrode
-was possessed of very great ability in unravelling events, and had
-always shewn an enlightened, though passive obedience, to the wishes of
-his sovereign. The Emperor Nicholas, then, being desirous of continuing
-the policy of his brother, to whom could he better address himself than
-to the man who had had the direction of affairs during the last fifteen
-years? Nesselrode also enjoyed the esteem of the Empress-Mother; and
-what power that remarkable woman had exercised over political affairs!
-She alone always manifested a sovereign contempt for Napoleon--she
-alone swayed the mind of her son Alexander, even after Erfurt; and,
-according to the patriarchal fashion, all her children appeared, to a
-certain degree, to do homage to her for the crown, as if they owed the
-supreme power to her from whom they had derived their existence.
-
-Nevertheless, Nesselrode soon found it necessary to modify his
-opinions. Ideas had advanced since the death of Alexander, and it was
-impossible to restrain the Russian spirit, which had decided in the
-most energetic manner in favour of Greece; it therefore required
-military food, and a war was indispensable. The influence of Metternich
-over the cabinet of St. Petersburg daily lost ground from this moment,
-and Nesselrode began to draw off from Germany, and become more
-essentially Russian in his principles and ideas; he also began to take
-a decided turn in favour of the Greeks. Nor in this conduct ought he to
-be reproached with inconstancy, for the times and circumstances were
-no longer the same, the monarchical principle having triumphed every
-where, in Piémont as well as at Madrid and at Naples, while Poland
-appeared entirely subject to her viceroy Constantine. Under these
-circumstances it was less difficult to discern the holy and heroic
-principle of the Greek revolution, and to rekindle the ardent hope of
-an independence, acquired by means of so many pious sacrifices. From
-this new tendency of affairs, Nesselrode found himself the antagonist
-of Metternich, with whom he had hitherto been agreed; but the Russian
-interest now prevailed over the Austrian spirit.
-
-The friendship between France and Russia dates from the year 1815, and
-was increased at the congress of Aix-la-Chapelle, under the influence
-of the Duc de Richelieu; but at that period, as we learn from the
-despatches of Count Nesselrode, France was too much overwhelmed by
-the fatal consequences of the two invasions to take an active part
-in affairs, or afford a support that would make her alliance worth
-seeking by the various cabinets of Europe: but from the year 1819
-France exhibited such a developement of vital powers and military
-energy, that Russia hastened to include her in her diplomatic means.
-The inclinations of the French cabinet turned in this direction, under
-the Duc de Richelieu and M. Dessolles; and they continued thus until
-the more English administrations of Polignac, of Montmorency, and of
-Villèle. The ministry of M. de la Ferronays again was favourable to
-the Russian alliance; and the ties that now bound France to Russia
-were not merely those of gratitude for the services rendered at the
-restoration, but the well-grounded conviction that the Russian alliance
-could on no occasion injure our interests, but might, on the contrary,
-on many occasions augment our diplomatic influence and our territorial
-boundaries. The collection of the despatches of Nesselrode and Pozzo di
-Borgo during this interval, and all the diplomatic papers that exist
-in the Foreign Office, attest the good-will of the cabinet of St.
-Petersburg, and the offers made secretly by it to obtain the alliance
-and concurrence of France on the Eastern question.
-
-Another cause which made this friendship so greatly desired, was the
-rivalry that had already become apparent between Russia and England.
-The system of the alliances in 1815 had overturned all the ancient
-diplomatic ideas, and all private jealousies had given way before the
-common object of Europe,--the destruction of Napoleon's power. But one
-great fault then committed by England was her inordinate augmentation
-of the power of Russia, thus, to a certain degree, creating her future
-omnipotence; for it was with the money and subsidies of England that
-the cabinet of St. Petersburg acquired the means of influencing for
-ever the southern interests. Nesselrode, who had been engaged in
-the greater part of the transactions of 1815, was obliged to detach
-himself from the traditions of the alliance of 1812, and great ability
-is required in order to make these transitions without abruptness;
-supple minds possess their influence as well as those of a more decided
-character, and ruin follows close upon the attempt to resist too much.
-Nesselrode is essentially the man of transitions; he has never assumed
-an inflexible attitude in a system or an idea, but has constituted
-himself the translator of times and interests: from which cause, as
-I have before observed, it sometimes occurred that his opinions as
-_chancelier d'état_ to the Emperor Nicholas were opposed to those he
-professed when he held the same situation under Alexander. The ideas of
-these two princes were not alike, neither were they placed in the same
-situations; yet Nesselrode served them both with the same fidelity and
-the same intelligence. It is a talent in public affairs to know how to
-make one's self the interpreter of another person; there are but a few
-of those very superior minds who, being deeply impressed with their own
-conceptions, obtain a dominion over times and characters, and even they
-frequently fall. But many very distinguished ministers never are able
-to attain that point of elevation, and, not daring to make themselves
-types, they are content with being impressions. They agree with all
-periods, all situations, and all difficulties.
-
-From the accession of the Emperor Nicholas to the revolution of 1830,
-the Russian policy was in some measure absorbed by the war with the
-Porte. All the ancient theory of the Holy Alliance was abandoned for
-less undecided interests, and less fear was entertained concerning
-revolutions at the time the most complete revolution took place.
-Whatever judgment may be formed of the event of 1830, it must suddenly
-have awakened a new train of emotions in the Russian _chancellerie_;
-for the popular principle which had caused this violent irruption had
-demonstrated as much energy, as did formerly the military power of
-Napoleon, against whom all Europe had risen in arms. The old education
-of Nesselrode was here destined again to be of service to him; for the
-first consequence of the revolt was, though not exactly to _revive_
-the treaties of the Holy Alliance, an old parchment which had fallen
-to pieces, at least to pave the way for a treaty of mutual guarantee.
-All private dissensions were naturally compelled to give way, that
-people might hasten to provide against the most pressing danger;
-Metternich appeared entirely to resume his former ideas, as if he were
-returning to the projects of 1815, and the diplomatic school abandoned
-many serious plans for the chances of a crusade against democratic
-principles. We are inclined to think Nesselrode did not dislike this
-reminiscence of the principles of political repression, being those
-which he most perfectly understood, and which he had particularly
-dwelt upon during his early years of study and labour: but age had now
-supervened; in 1830 Nesselrode was no longer young, and it is not at
-the second period of existence people are able to encounter the great
-perturbations which shake the world to its centre. In recapitulating
-the causes of the maintenance of peace, people have not sufficiently
-considered the dread of change that possessed those wearied existences.
-Truly, it was not without reason that the Greeks placed in the hands
-of the aged the decision concerning peace or war. Let us suppose
-Metternich with the impetuosity of youth, and Nesselrode fifteen years
-younger, who can tell what might have occurred? Perhaps a violent war
-might have broken out, and with it all the chances of disorder.
-
-The insurrection in Poland, however, gave plenty of occupation to
-Russia, and the ideas of the Emperor Nicholas on the subject of
-repression harmonised perfectly with those of his minister. What
-the Russian people desired was the union of Poland to Russia; and
-the amalgamation, which had so long been the constant subject of
-Nesselrode's thoughts, was, at last, on the point of being finally
-accomplished. He never fully entered into the prejudices of the old
-Muscovites on this point, but he, nevertheless, was of opinion that
-this divided nation, this double and simultaneous government, injured
-the political and administrative unity of Russia.
-
-The divers administrations which constitute the vast Russian empire,
-and which all tend to one common centre, under the hand of the
-Emperor, are, as a whole, very remarkable. Ever since the constituent
-assembly established an unity of administration in France, our system
-of government has no longer cause to dread that, in a homogeneous
-whole, one province or one district will be opposed to another; their
-strength has been blended in a manner very convenient to those in
-power. But it is far otherwise in Russia: the cabinet of St. Petersburg
-has to command thousands of different races--Tartars, Mahometans,
-Poles, and Cossacks; each of these people has its laws, its customs,
-its power, and its recollections, and it is necessary to maintain
-this individuality without detracting from the unity of the system.
-There is neither one general rule observed in the mode of levying the
-taxes, nor even, in a great measure, is there any undeviating rule
-for the military conscription. Some pay tribute, others are subject
-to contributions of arms and horses; in some places the recruits are
-furnished by the nobles, in others they are obtained by means of
-_levées en masse_; some people are still subject to feudal government
-under the Czar, and others, again, depend on the regular and immediate
-authority of the princes. In France the administrative clockwork is so
-simple that nothing but a will and a hand for business are required
-to set it in motion; nothing can be easier than the situation of a
-prefect, or even of a minister for the home department; interests,
-rights, and customs, are all sacrificed to the strength of the
-government.
-
-All these circumstances lead to the necessity in Russia of a more
-careful and more finished education for a statesman; for a young man
-who is preparing for a diplomatic situation at St. Petersburg, must not
-only be acquainted with French and German, but must also understand
-modern Greek and some of the Oriental languages. Nesselrode, in spite
-of his long experience, has been obliged to submit to the general rule;
-and a considerable portion of his life has been devoted to the study of
-living languages. His mind has become a repertory of treaties, he is a
-living catalogue of all the transactions of his time. The offices over
-which he presides are the most extensive, the most multiplied, and the
-most minute that can be imagined; there is a division for the relations
-with Persia, another for those with China, and with the little
-Mahometan princes, independent of those for the secret correspondence
-with the chiefs of the various tribes lately conquered by Russia.
-Nesselrode presides over all these affairs of the _chancellerie_ with
-an activity nothing can slacken: his extreme facility in the despatch
-of business, and his laborious existence in the midst of the European
-relations, have naturally confirmed his credit with the Czar; who is
-also accustomed to act very much for himself, and only requires a
-minister as a sort of memorandum-book he can consult when he pleases,
-and as a faithful arm to execute his will. During the last five years
-the system of diplomatic aides-de-camp has been revived in full force,
-for the Emperor likes those semi-military appointments, which give a
-constantly armed attitude to Russia; in fact, it is one of the active
-sources of his moral influence.
-
-Nesselrode, it is true, is only the enlightened hand which writes the
-will of the Emperor; he is valued as a man of good counsel, which
-means, that he listens a great deal, and that he can discover the
-secret thoughts of the person that consults him, without himself
-having any of those determined plans which clash with the will of the
-sovereign.
-
-The junior diplomatic school of Russia regard Nesselrode as a living
-archive, something in the way M. d'Hauterive was considered in France;
-and it is of great importance that a person who is called to direct the
-affairs of his country in the present times should be well acquainted
-with its former history--it also adds greatly to the elevation of his
-position. The temperate system, adopted by men weary of agitation, is
-a great benefit when opposed to the fiery spirits who wish to proceed
-with impetuosity in public affairs. The proud and generous disposition
-of the Emperor renders it necessary he should have at his side a man
-who will not execute his orders till the following day, because time
-is thus afforded for reflection, and an order issued to-day might very
-possibly be revoked after the lapse of a night; on these occasions
-there is a great advantage in a man of a temperate mind.
-
-Nesselrode has, in every respect, the most agreeable _salon_ in St.
-Petersburg, and the one where the most conversation goes on. He takes
-pleasure in collecting people who hold the most various opinions, in
-such a manner as to form a neutral ground, on which every body may
-meet; and when a man has reached a venerable age, full of years and of
-honours, what more can be desired? our tent must be pitched somewhere.
-When for forty years, people have been engaged in the most gigantic
-events, like the aged men in Homer, they offer hospitality to the
-young, when they recount to them all they have seen, and the judgment
-they have formed; they contemplate the present generation with the
-feelings experienced by a traveller who, from an elevated tower, looks
-down on the cities far below him, and the people incessantly busy, and
-thronging to perform the part assigned to them in the weary task of
-humanity.
-
-
-
-
-LORD CASTLEREAGH.
-
-
-I am about to write the life of a statesman whose character has been
-more violently attacked in the annals of England--I might almost say
-of Europe--than any other with whom I am acquainted. No one ever had
-to endure more outrages and insults, and no one ever displayed more
-inflexible firmness, in the course of a most chequered and agitated
-life. I shall offend many little prejudices, and hurt many vulgar
-opinions; but things of this sort have never prevented me from
-proceeding straight to the truths of history, respecting men who have
-accomplished a great political career.
-
-On the picturesque Lake Foyle[50] in Ireland, whose shores are studded
-with ancient mansions, and whose waters are diversified with fertile
-islands, inhabited by little colonies of aged fishermen, a young man of
-eccentric manners, but whose appearance denoted a being of a superior
-class to those around him, had for two years fixed his residence. His
-only habitation was his boat: fishing, hunting, and violent exercises,
-filled up his time; and in the evening, surrounded by the fishermen,
-he made them relate to him all the old legendary tales of the country,
-and, in his turn, instructing the inhabitants of the district, he drew
-up laws respecting fishing, and hunting, as if he were the sovereign
-of this watery republic. No one could exhibit more intrepidity than did
-this singular being. Upon one occasion he set sail in his frail bark,
-in the strait that separates Ireland from England; and his shipwreck on
-the Isle of Man, where he had alone managed his yacht in a stormy sea,
-like one of the Ossianic heroes, was long recorded by the peasantry.
-His dreams were of the legends of the lake; and being deeply enamoured
-of the daughter of one of the fishermen named Nelly, he sacrificed
-every thing to this ardent and romantic passion, wearing simply the
-dress of the children of the lake, for he loved and was desirous of
-being beloved again. Enthusiastic and passionate in his feelings, he
-would endure no contradiction; and an attempt having one day been made
-to deprive him of his mistress, he defied his rival to a duel after the
-Scandinavian fashion--that is to say with battle-axes--and conducted
-himself with a degree of intrepidity that was celebrated all over Great
-Britain.
-
- [50] Quære, Coyne?--_Editor._
-
-This young man, whose eccentricity took so poetical a form, for his
-youth was like a ballad, was Robert Stewart, afterwards Viscount
-Castlereagh and Marquess of Londonderry. His family was not originally
-Irish, but came from Scotland. James I., as every one is aware, created
-some great fiefs in Ireland, and bestowed them upon some of his most
-faithful subjects, in the hope of more closely uniting Ireland to the
-British empire. Eight of these fiefs, with a kind of _suzeraineté_,
-fell to the share of the Duke of Lennox; and the Stewarts, that noble
-name in Scotland, no doubt allied to the royal line, held some of the
-lands subject to the Lennox family. It has always been the fate of
-Ireland to be under the dominion of strangers to her soil; the yoke of
-conquest becomes more heavy after each impatient tumult. Her oppression
-arises from her disturbed condition; each unsuccessful revolt produces
-additional servitude, and much of her suffering is owing to the crime
-of the popular agitators, who are instigated by nothing but their own
-insatiable vanity to endeavour to destroy all old and respectable
-national feeling.
-
-The Stewarts, however, decided in favour of William III., and of
-what is termed in England the glorious Revolution. As possessors of
-military fiefs they were naturally inclined to second the accession
-of a new dynasty, by whom their usurpation of the conquered country
-was likely to be sanctioned. When great alterations have taken place
-in the rights and tenure of property, a change of power is required,
-and, indeed, is almost indispensable to restore peace and quiet to
-the country. The Orangemen, therefore, formed a closely-united party
-in Ireland, and exercised military dominion over the people. In vain
-did the unfortunate James, in his rapid passage through Ireland, cause
-the parliament of Dublin to pronounce a sentence of confiscation, on
-account of felony, against the estates of Colonel Stewart, serving
-under William of Orange. This confiscation continued in force but
-a short time; and William, having gained the victory, lavished his
-rewards upon the officer who had so powerfully supported his cause.
-William Stewart, thus loaded with wealth by the king of 1688, was one
-of the most determined oppressors of Ireland--one of those who ruled
-with a rod of iron the country reconquered after the battle of the
-Boyne.
-
-The young man dwelling among the fishermen on the shores of the lake,
-therefore, came of a noble lineage; and his mother was a Seymour,
-named Sarah-Frances, like the Puritan dames who have been re-animated
-by the genius of Walter Scott. Robert Stewart, like the rest of the
-youth of Great Britain, had pursued his studies at the University of
-Cambridge; and, on leaving college, he had precipitated himself into
-this romantic sort of life, some said from his love for the fisherman's
-daughter, while others, on the contrary, declared such a passage was
-merely incidental to his eccentric life, like a wreath of wild flowers
-on the brow of a Scandinavian warrior. He, however, led a generous
-life, for money appeared to be of no value to him; and he spent largely
-in constructing little ports for the fishermen, and distributing among
-them boats of a superior construction, like a beneficent deity. Such
-is the great source of the power enjoyed by the English aristocracy.
-While their public life is passed in the midst of cities, their private
-life is in the country. All that was benevolent in the old feudal
-system is still to be found in their castles: from their turrets flow
-the alms still, as in ancient times, conferred upon the people; the
-donjon is converted into a dispensary, where medicines and assistance
-are afforded to the sick. And thus the aristocracy reign over the
-peasantry, in virtue of the powerful aid they are ready to afford to
-all who require it in their neighbourhood.
-
-Nevertheless, the wish to distinguish himself in public life began to
-animate the heart of young Stewart. Parliament appears necessary to
-the youth of Great Britain, and it is there they prepare themselves
-for political life, taking their place among the Whigs or Tories
-according to a certain order of political principles. It was necessary
-the Stewarts should have seats in the Irish parliament, for they had a
-great stake in the country; but, owing to the family being Protestants,
-the election was violently contested, and cost the successful candidate
-thirty thousand pounds. These corruptions are a general rule in
-England, and they even add to the strength of the country; for there
-is no danger a bad choice should result from them, every thing being
-fixed according to settled rules; every thing is so well foreseen and
-organised by the mechanical arrangements made, that the elections that
-take place are always of men of safe principles. Pecuniary corruption
-in the existence of states often acts as a corrective of another, and
-far more injurious, corruption for a people--I mean ideas tending to
-revolutionary principles.
-
-The Irish parliament, then still existing, was a great cause of
-disorder in the unity of the British government, until the illustrious
-Pitt placed every thing under the common law of the triple crown. There
-is something strange and perfectly inconsistent in the pretensions of
-Ireland. The people profess to respect the Union without ever wishing
-to depart from it; and then they claim a parliament for themselves,
-and desire something resembling a republic independent of England. Let
-them exult in their Catholic emancipation; they have a right to do so,
-and cannot value it too highly. But do they wish still to make part of
-the British empire?--do they wish the harp of Erin still to hold her
-place on the escutcheon of England? Alone, Ireland cannot subsist. Her
-commerce is supported by the vast trade of England: she only exists by
-means of the colonies, and the day she ceases to be English she will be
-ruined. What, then, is the meaning of all those revolts, those protests
-on all occasions, which serve no purpose except that of conferring a
-certain sort of renown upon street orators and demagogues?
-
-The election of Robert Stewart, however, though anti-Catholic, was not
-ministerial; for he promised on the hustings to support parliamentary
-reform, and on taking his seat in the House of Commons he placed
-himself on the opposition benches. This was a sort of sacrifice to
-popularity necessary from all statesmen at the beginning of their
-career, and the most powerful have not been exempt from paying this
-tribute to rhetoric. However, even at that time, young Stewart
-appeared to keep within certain limits of order and principles; and,
-avoiding declamation, he spoke seriously, and restrained himself while
-speaking. He was not an orator with a sonorous, reverberating voice,
-who, by means of biting epigrams, drew peals of laughter from his
-auditors. His speeches bore the impress of the Toryism of his family,
-and all his inclinations were those of an eminently Conservative mind.
-
-England and Ireland were at this time agitated more especially by two
-questions; the first was parliamentary reform, and the other the free
-commerce of Ireland with the colonies. On the first of these points,
-the Castlereagh family, like the Wellesleys, considered it absurd to
-impose upon the Catholics a conscientious oath, which would exclude
-them from participating in the benefit of the elections; but, at the
-same time, was it not very unwise to prepare an indefinite reform,
-which would overturn the whole of the social condition of Great
-Britain? It was with a view to the admission of the Catholics into
-parliament that the Irish Tories became friends with the opposition;
-they shewed themselves favourably inclined to the emancipation of those
-who differed with them in belief, and at the same time opposed to
-radical reform: and this last subject was the cause of Castlereagh's
-withdrawal from the Irish agitators, who now began to aim murderous
-blows at the Union.
-
-Robert Stewart, also, considered that Ireland could not with justice be
-deprived of an extensive commerce with the colonies. What was the use
-of a system which made all the advantages fall to the share of England
-and Scotland, without allowing the essentially agricultural population
-of Ireland, to participate in them? Young Stewart defended the
-interests of Ireland with energy and great ability, and he immediately
-attracted the attention of those in power, more especially the Marquis
-of Buckingham and Lord Westmoreland.
-
-The rebellion in Ireland took place at this juncture; the people
-were determined to separate themselves from the English crown; the
-time was past when the questions raised by the opposition were those
-of religious liberty or political independence; they now wanted to
-establish a sort of Irish republic, under the protection of the
-democracy that was then setting Europe in a blaze. Treasonable
-correspondence with the French republic could not fail to place the
-society of United Irishmen without the pale of the constitution and
-of all patriotic feelings. Ireland called for the assistance of
-foreigners, and a strong party was naturally formed to oppose these
-evil designs. The Orangemen, who sided with the government, organised
-the yeomanry--a sort of feudal system against the insurgents, and
-a civil war broke out in Ireland at the time of the expeditions to
-their coasts, commanded by Generals Hoche and Humbert. The members
-of parliament could not venture on further hesitation; for it was
-necessary either to take part with the United Irishmen supported by
-foreigners, or to declare for the government of Mr. Pitt. Robert
-Stewart, who had just acquired the title of Castlereagh, upon his
-father being created Earl of Londonderry, exhibited no indecision as
-to the course he was to pursue, and from this time forth he was always
-firmly convinced that the only real statesmen are those who know how to
-repress the tumultuous movements of popular excitement.
-
-He now devoted himself to repressive measures, with the energy that
-formed the basis of his character. He had been appointed secretary for
-Ireland under Lord Camden, and by this means became identified with
-the Orange party. It was principally owing to his vigorous measures
-that the insurrection was brought to a termination, for he never was
-arrested by any of the trifling obstacles which often form the ruin
-of causes; he considered it necessary the government should display
-perfect inflexibility, for the salvation of the country was at stake:
-amnesties were granted, it is true, but not until the tumult was
-over and the rebels had laid down their arms. During this struggle
-Lord Castlereagh was particularly distinguished for the strength and
-importance he conferred upon the Orange party, consisting of men of
-property who were formed into a body for the defence of their land.
-Lord Cornwallis was able, after a time, to succeed Lord Camden in the
-government of Ireland, and the repressive system had then produced
-such a state of security, that the government considered the season of
-pardon and oblivion to have arrived.
-
-The most violent hatred was now aroused against Lord Castlereagh:
-it is, alas! the fate of all who by violent means restore order in
-a country, for they occasion discontent, and all the spirits whose
-turbulence had troubled the country are, of course, opposed to them;
-because their proceedings have been severe, people insist that they
-have been sanguinary. These invectives of the Irish did not permit
-Lord Cornwallis to retain Lord Castlereagh as secretary, he therefore
-gave in his resignation; for, in peaceful times, the men who commanded
-during the storm are no longer required, and when the tempest is over
-the services of the hardy pilot are scarcely remembered: thus Marquis
-Cornwallis, whose government was distinguished for its indulgence,
-no longer required the inflexible hand of the former secretary. No
-part of his conduct, however, had escaped the vast intellect of the
-statesman then at the head of the English government. Mr. Pitt had
-discovered the secretary for Ireland to possess an inflexible mind,
-which, when once convinced of the expediency of any measure, was
-capable of making every exertion, and encountering every risk, in order
-to carry out an idea he had formed; and this kind of disposition must
-have been particularly satisfactory to Mr. Pitt at a time when England
-was threatened with so many dangers. In unsettled times, the presence
-of men of firm and determined characters, who will prevent society
-from falling to pieces, is of the greatest importance to a government.
-From this moment, a communication took place between Pitt and Lord
-Castlereagh. The great minister required a powerful supporter in the
-definitive question of the parliamentary union of Ireland and England;
-for the late disturbances, and more especially the unfortunate appeal
-to a foreign power, and to the leaders of the French revolution, had
-inspired Mr. Pitt with a firm conviction, that neither strength nor
-order were to be hoped for, except through the means of the Union, and
-that the existence of the Irish parliament was in direct opposition to
-the spirit of centralisation, which can alone secure the prosperity
-and glory of a country. After every insurrection Ireland was losing
-some portion of her freedom,--a fate always prepared by agitators for
-those who trust too much to their words! A nation obtains concessions
-only when it remains in a quiescent position, and when its well-founded
-complaints are uttered with calm sobriety of manner; silent suffering
-produces a great effect on the minds of the beholders, and the feeling
-of justice exercises an unspeakable influence. Lord Castlereagh in the
-Irish parliament made himself the zealous champion of Mr. Pitt, in his
-plan for uniting the two parliaments; the country comprehended the
-advantages to be derived from this measure, and it was decided that
-the three crowns of England, Scotland, and Ireland, ought to form one
-great whole, which would hereafter be the support of the Continent
-when threatened with danger. Pitt was highly satisfied with Lord
-Castlereagh's speech for the Union; he was summoned by the ministerial
-party to the united House of Commons, and appointed president of
-the Board of Control for the affairs of India. This is one of the
-appointments conferred in England by the ministers upon the talented
-men with whom they surround themselves, for the sake of their support
-in parliament.
-
-No man could be better acquainted with the situation of Ireland than
-Lord Castlereagh, or more perfectly aware of all the resources of the
-Orange party which could be employed for the purpose of repression.
-This knowledge rendered him a person of great importance, for the prime
-minister was then anxious to put into execution the union between
-England and Ireland, which had been decided upon in parliament, and
-Lord Castlereagh, who by his profound acquaintance with the moral
-topography of Ireland was the man most calculated to realise this
-design, was consulted upon all the measures to be pursued. Mr. Pitt
-especially possessed the practical genius which enabled him to discover
-men of particular capacity, and around him were a multitude of young
-and clever men, each with his appointed station and employment. The
-system of under-secretaries of state in England produces wonderful
-results; it gives to affairs their full developement, enabling the
-statesman to confine himself to generalities, both of ideas and
-systems, while the young under-secretaries devote all their energies to
-the statistics of detail and the internal administration. Thus was Lord
-Castlereagh situated; a man of an inflexible and laborious disposition,
-who never arrived at a general idea except by means of the most careful
-and minute study of all the circumstances.
-
-This special knowledge of affairs caused Lord Castlereagh to be
-retained even during Mr. Addington's ministry, which lasted but a very
-short time, and was succeeded by Mr. Pitt's still more decided plans
-against the French revolution. Addington signed the peace of Amiens,
-and Castlereagh, as president of the Board of Trade, had to deliberate
-upon all the measures which augmented the commercial relations of
-England with India and the colonies. He assumed no position as a
-political character, for he did not agree with the ideas entertained
-by Addington, and he, therefore, completely gave himself up to his
-duties at the Board of Control and to the affairs of Ireland. His heart
-was full of detestation for France, and, in imitation of his master,
-he allowed this administration to pass without taking any part in it.
-As a reward for his conduct on this occasion, Pitt, on resuming his
-situation at the head of affairs, gave him the portfolio of the War
-department.
-
-It is necessary to observe that Pitt's great ambition was that all
-the various departments should be entirely dependent upon him; he did
-not like to have any men about him except those of his school, or
-immediately attached to his system,--his _fides Achates_, as they were
-classically termed by Dundas; and among these young men the names of
-Castlereagh and Canning are especially resplendent: both were subject
-to his power, but of essentially opposite characters, and jealous of
-each other. Castlereagh was so firm and decided, that he never gave up
-an idea he had once formed; his manner of speaking was slow, and rather
-heavy, but serious, and never thoughtless. Canning, on the contrary,
-was sarcastic, and rather inclined to classic declamation; an orator,
-rather spoiled from a constant striving after effect. Castlereagh was
-often listened to with impatience, nevertheless, he generally attained
-his object; while Canning, by the generality of people, was only viewed
-in the light of an eloquent speaker. Castlereagh was a statesman;
-Canning, a man of words, rather theatrical, not to be relied on, and
-with an indescribable levity of language and purpose. Castlereagh
-would have laid down his life for his party, or for an idea; Canning
-was a renegade to his party, he supported every thing with ability,
-and gloried in his oratorical triumphs, at the very time he was
-compromising his cabinet.
-
-When Pitt, their illustrious chief, died broken-hearted by the victory
-of Austerlitz, the king considered it indispensable, in order to
-conclude a peace with France, that Fox and Grenville, the leaders of
-the Whigs, should assume the ministry; it was an unfortunate attempt,
-often repeated in England. Fox, and all his friends, shewed themselves
-perfectly devoid of political knowledge, and they also evinced extreme
-incapacity, which gave occasion to the remark that a Whig ministry was
-a misfortune both for the country and for the party itself; for the
-country, because it compromises it, and for the party, because the
-Whigs always forfeit their reputation, throwing away, in a ministry
-which lasted fifteen months, the fruit of fifteen years of popularity.
-As might be expected, Canning and Castlereagh were the most violent
-opponents of Fox's cabinet. The debates in parliament during this
-ministry form a curious study; Canning and Castlereagh did not like
-each other, though they were on the same side of the question, and
-this was mainly owing to the difference in their talents, as well as
-in the character of their minds and intellects. Castlereagh attacked
-the administration by means of reasoning, an appeal to figures, and a
-sort of traditional influence, which produced a great effect upon the
-Tories; while Canning, on the contrary, trusted to poetical sallies, or
-ridicule. Above all, Fox was out of place at the head of affairs.
-
-Men whose whole life is passed in attacking others, are essentially
-in a bad position when they assume the direction of affairs; they are
-unable to breathe, they are neither free nor happy in this sphere, for
-it is not congenial to them. The men of business, on the contrary,
-who are for a short time in the opposition, become very dangerous
-opponents, especially if they possess a flow of language and a quick
-and earnest manner; as they have seen a great deal, they preserve an
-incontestable degree of authority while reproaching the opposition with
-succeeding no better than _they_ did when in power, and with imitating
-awkwardly the very conduct they had formerly attacked with great
-violence. The men who declaim are not to be feared; the only really
-formidable adversaries are those who have had much experience in the
-course of events.
-
-The wretched administration of Lord Grey, after the death of Fox, was
-a continuation of the Whig politics. His lordship had at all times
-been rather the bulwark than leader of his party, and the tool of the
-able men who availed themselves of his high reputation: there are
-generally in politics some characters who serve as a stalking-horse for
-certain opinions; they have a great name, which is taken hold of, to be
-employed or absorbed according to circumstances.
-
-The ministry of Lord Grey, and Grenville, only lasted for a few
-months after the death of Fox, for the continental questions began to
-assume so serious an aspect that it was not possible for the Whigs
-to direct them. Fox had been desirous of a peace with France--one of
-those bastard truces attempted by Addington at the peace of Amiens;
-but how was it possible there should be peace between two such proud
-and powerful authorities as Napoleon and the English aristocracy?
-the irrevocable fall of one or other of the parties was inevitable.
-Austerlitz had given birth to Fox's ministry, and the awaking of
-Prussia from the torpor in which she had been plunged brought about
-the fall of the Whigs. The Duke of Portland, belonging to the moderate
-Tory party, undertook the difficult and painful task of directing the
-affairs of Great Britain, and the two most determined and unvarying
-opponents of the former administration were naturally included in the
-present ministry: as I have before observed, they were men of perfectly
-different characters. Castlereagh returned to the War Office, with
-the detail of which he was perfectly well acquainted; and Canning was
-appointed minister for foreign affairs, as being the favourite pupil of
-Pitt and the inheritor of his doctrines.
-
-From this time a peace with France was no longer thought of; that idea
-gave place to the determination to engage in a fierce and implacable
-war against Napoleon, who had now reached the _apogée_ of his glory,
-and on this point the opinion of Lord Castlereagh was firm and
-unvarying. His great object was to find the leaven of war, on that
-continent now humbled under the sword of the Emperor; and, by means of
-secret springs, to arouse the governments and people, crushed beneath
-his gigantic power. The influence of France extended from Cadiz to
-Hamburg, from Antwerp to Trieste; Austria had made peace with her
-after the sad defeat at Austerlitz; and Prussia, after appearing for a
-moment as if roused to resistance, had again bowed beneath the yoke.
-Germany was subject to the Confederation of the Rhine; Switzerland to
-the predominant mediation of the French empire; Italy was in a state of
-vassalage under the Iron crown; at Tilsit a friendship had been formed
-between Russia and France, and the two emperors were about to meet
-again at Erfurt, to cement the alliance projected at Tilsit, and divide
-the world between them.
-
-England, therefore, stood _alone_ in the struggle now fiercely
-undertaken against Napoleon. Castlereagh, who held the same opinions
-that Mr. Pitt had done, resolutely rejected every attempt at peace with
-a power whose principle had hitherto been to grasp at every thing,
-and which appeared resolved it should continue so to be. The Duke of
-Portland had a degree of rashness, and something chivalrous, in his
-disposition, which led him to engage boldly in the struggle; and the
-new connexion between Lord Castlereagh and the Duke of Wellington gave
-him a sort of pre-eminence in the cabinet, which offended the vanity
-of Canning. Like all political speakers, the minister for foreign
-affairs aimed at power, and, because he possessed a happy facility in
-quoting some classical verses acquired at the University, he considered
-himself fitted to occupy a higher situation than Castlereagh, whose
-speech was slow and embarrassed. This jealousy increased after the
-brilliant expedition to Copenhagen, in which the minister of war had
-displayed very great ability, and the arrangements of which were so
-perfectly successful that the Danish fleet remained in the power of the
-English. The opposition in vain declared it was an iniquitous action,
-contrary to all the principles of the law of nations: but necessity has
-no law; and was it not absolutely necessary that Great Britain should
-prevent the coalition of the Danish squadron and the fleet of Antwerp?
-The lukewarm neutrality of Denmark was not a sufficient guarantee to
-England, and it was indispensable either to force that government to
-declare itself, or to destroy a fleet which lay too near the formidable
-arsenal of Napoleon. Mr. Canning was very jealous of his ministerial
-colleague; he had always considered himself to hold the first place
-since the death of Mr. Pitt, and he could not bear that another should
-share in this renown: this enmity soon burst forth in a striking
-manner.
-
-The active diplomatic proceedings of England on the Continent had
-excited the fears of Austria, as to the probable results of a war;
-the interview at Erfurt determined the cabinet of Vienna to take arms
-against Napoleon, and England immediately contracted a league of
-offence and defence with Austria, based upon subsidies which she agreed
-to furnish.
-
-It was well known that, ever since the commencement of the war in
-Spain, great dissatisfaction had existed in the French empire against
-the insatiable ambition of Buonaparte; and several ministers, as for
-instance Talleyrand and Fouché, had begun to look forward to the
-possibility of the death or downfall of the Emperor. When generals
-like Bernadotte were out of favour, one might easily imagine that,
-in case of the death of Napoleon, or of a military insurrection, the
-vast empire raised by one man would fall into complete decay and
-dissolution. This was, from henceforward, the groundwork of the plans
-of England. It was intended an English army should land in Holland,
-at the same time that Austria should open the war by an immense
-military demonstration, and thus effect a rapid popular insurrection.
-The thing Lord Castlereagh considered of the most importance was the
-destruction of the fleet and arsenal of Antwerp, in the same manner
-as the capture of the Danish fleet had formerly been effected; he
-therefore, as minister of war, made immense preparations for the
-Walcheren expedition; but,--must it be said?--here commenced the
-treachery of Mr. Canning towards his country and his colleague. It is
-incontestable that Mr. Canning furnished information to Fouché, to let
-him know the intentions of Lord Castlereagh;[51] for when jealousy
-has taken possession of the heart it listens to nothing. As to his
-conduct towards his colleague, Canning persuaded the Duke of Portland
-to get rid of Lord Castlereagh, as a man of a harsh and inflexible
-disposition, incapable of conducting the war department, or of
-directing or supporting a debate. In parliament, Mr. Canning wanted to
-rule over the Tory party, and Lord Castlereagh was an obstacle to his
-ambitious designs.
-
- [51] This assertion is untrue, and not borne out by any
- evidence.--_Editor._
-
-The Walcheren expedition failed, and explanations naturally took place
-between the colleagues. Unfortunate catastrophes are always followed
-by harsh and bitter words, because no one is willing to stand by the
-consequences. A feeling was raised against Lord Castlereagh, who
-was denounced by the Whigs as unfit for his situation. "How had it
-happened," said they, "that a fine English army had been thus plunged
-into sickness and misery?" Lord Castlereagh was obliged to defend
-himself, and the storm which was growling around him rendered it
-impossible for him to retain his situation; but he wrote a sharp and
-angry letter, openly accusing Canning, if not of actual treason, at
-least of underhand practices, which had occasioned all these disasters.
-Canning replied in a confused manner, by details on the delays that
-had taken place in the departure of troops, and the wrong address
-of the despatches; he was only ardent and cutting when he came to
-personal recriminations against Castlereagh, who, deeply offended, sent
-a challenge to his adversary. He was thus returning to the early and
-poetic part of his existence, to the reminiscences of the eccentric
-youth on the shores of Lough Foyle, where he had fought a duel in the
-Scandinavian fashion; and now, when he was a serious and reflecting
-statesman, he considered that in personal questions the only means
-of terminating a quarrel was by a personal encounter. Canning and
-Castlereagh fought with pistols: in England people are ready to lay
-down their lives for an idea or a system; both were brave men, and
-would not draw back, but Castlereagh was the most fortunate, for
-Canning was severely wounded. The resignation of the minister of war
-was nevertheless accepted, while Canning continued in office, and the
-Duke of Portland pursued the middle course which had occasioned the
-rupture between his two colleagues.
-
-The situation of parties and of affairs is sometimes such, that a
-man is possessed of more influence when out of the cabinet than when
-he actually forms one of the ministry; and the firm and inflexible
-attitude of Lord Castlereagh, and his implacable hatred towards France,
-secured him a degree of ascendancy among the Tories, which Canning
-had striven for in vain. The Wellesleys, then rendered so powerful
-by the successes of the Duke of Wellington, shared their credit
-with the ex-minister; and he followed in parliament the energetic
-political system which infallibly leads to the downfall of all feeble
-or temporising measures. The ministry of the Duke of Portland and Mr.
-Canning had already taken some steps towards peace with Buonaparte,
-but Castlereagh was constantly opposed to it; he agreed with the
-ministers whenever repressive measures, or any plan favourable to
-Conservative ideas was in debate, but opposed them when they were
-inclined to make any concessions to Whiggism, or the idea of peace. By
-this skilful conduct he gradually rose in public estimation, and when
-the unfortunate death of Mr. Perceval occasioned the dissolution of the
-ministry, the Tories proposed Lord Castlereagh as minister for foreign
-affairs in the room of Mr. Canning.
-
-The situation of Europe at this time rendered it imperatively necessary
-that the conduct of England should be decided and full of energy.
-Though it can hardly be said that war was actually on the point of
-breaking out on the Continent, there were every where the elements
-of an universal conflagration: Spain had hoisted the signal of
-independence, and the English armies extended in the Peninsula, from
-Lisbon to Cadiz. Immediately after he had taken charge of the Foreign
-Office, Lord Castlereagh was called upon to explain himself concerning
-the question of peace or war with France. Buonaparte was then on
-the eve of undertaking the Russian campaign, and in order to give
-an undeniable proof of his pacific inclinations, and also as a lure
-to public opinion, he caused M. Maret to write to Lord Castlereagh,
-proposing peace upon what he termed easy and simple conditions, which
-reduced themselves to the following points. At Naples and at Madrid,
-the actual dynasty, and in Portugal and Sicily also the reigning
-dynasty (without any further explanation). The English minister,
-being closely connected with Russia, had little inclination to treat
-with Napoleon; and it was no doubt sarcastically that he proposed the
-following question to M. Maret,--"First of all, it is necessary to
-understand what dynasty you are speaking of; in Spain, is it Ferdinand
-VII. or Joseph Buonaparte? At Naples, is it the House of Bourbon or
-Murat, that is considered as the actual dynasty?" And when M. Maret
-replied that his majesty Don Joseph and his majesty Joachim were meant,
-Lord Castlereagh, with proper spirit, declared any further proceedings
-were out of the question, because he had nothing to do with these
-usurpers,--it was only with the legitimate sovereigns of Spain and
-Naples that England had any connexion. The accession of the leader of
-the active Tory party, therefore, caused the politics of England to
-assume a firmer attitude respecting all the affairs of Europe. When
-Buonaparte undertook his adventurous expedition against Russia, the
-English minister turned his closest and most careful attention upon
-Turkey and Sweden, both of which possessed powerful means of action.
-The negotiation feebly entered into by the agents of M. Maret, had been
-rendered abortive by the abrupt and imperative character of Buonaparte;
-and Lord Castlereagh, more fortunate and more adroit, went direct to
-his object with regard to Bernadotte and the Porte. He knew the Crown
-Prince was displeased with the haughtiness of Napoleon, and offered
-him subsidies if he would maintain a strict neutrality, reserving to
-himself the chance of future events. In his relations with Europe he
-was still more fortunate in bringing about the peace of Bucharest,
-which left the Czar master of all his forces. This plan of increasing
-the strength of the enemies of Buonaparte, and thus depriving him of
-the necessary alliances, was an admirable mode of attack. The peace of
-Bucharest enabled the Czar to advance with the army, which attacked
-Napoleon on the flank and encircled him in its vast coils; and the
-neutrality observed by Sweden permitted to Russia the disposition of
-her forces near Riga--a circumstance that did more towards causing the
-defection of Prussia than people are aware.
-
-The active mind of Lord Castlereagh, and the determined energy which
-distinguished his character, were more especially manifested in the
-European movement which led to the fall of Napoleon. In 1813, the whole
-continent was full of English agents; they were everywhere--at Vienna,
-at Berlin, and at Stockholm, and even among the secret societies of
-Germany: for the Tories perceived that the time was come for them to
-act with vigour, and put an end to the power by which they had so
-long been threatened. Parliament never presented a more animated or
-truly national spectacle, or evinced a more unanimous devotion to the
-cause supported by the old English aristocracy; no sacrifice appeared
-too great, and subsidies were granted almost without limitation. The
-disasters of Moscow had inflamed all hearts, and with the assistance
-of one magic word, _Liberation_, the plans most hostile to Napoleon
-were realised. Treaties of alliance and subsidy were concluded by Lord
-Castlereagh with almost all the powers of Europe; and in order more
-completely to identify himself with his system, the minister appointed
-his brother, Sir Charles Stewart, to a special mission to the courts
-of Prussia and Sweden. This officer, now Marquis of Londonderry, was
-sent as commissioner with the English armies, and has himself published
-his despatches addressed to him whom he mentions as his illustrious
-brother. The English commissioners, who all received appointments both
-military and political, were at the same time soldiers, negotiating
-agents, and commandants of troops. We see in these despatches the
-painful efforts made by Sir Charles Stewart to produce some degree of
-unity in the coalesced camp. As England was paying armies to the right
-and left, with unheard-of liberality, she was desirous of retaining the
-political direction of events in her own hands, and as this supremacy
-encountered obstacles raised by the spirit of calculation and of
-self-love, it was necessary to be perpetually engaged in discussions
-with the generals-in-chief and the government. Sir Charles was at that
-time a young man, with a warm temper and some pride of birth; and
-Bernadotte, in spite of his doubtful position, preserved a certain
-degree of personal dignity: this led to perpetual differences of
-opinion, and even to quarrels, which required the skilful and moderate
-interference of the Russian commissioner, Count Pozzo di Borgo. Sir
-Charles having conceived a feeling of mistrust regarding Bernadotte,
-no doubt with reason, watched him closely, and his elevated position
-as brother to the Prime Minister of England invested him with an
-undoubted superiority in all negotiations. The attitude of England at
-that time was so proud! I am not acquainted with any period in the
-history of empires more magnificent, from the energy displayed, than
-that of England from the year 1792 to 1814; and this energy led to
-the general rising of Europe against Napoleon. Castlereagh was the
-soul of it, for the elements of which the English ministry were then
-composed were subject to his power; indeed when a character of great
-strength is anywhere met with, every thing gives way to his influence,
-for a superior mind never fails to be acknowledged. Lord Liverpool was
-no doubt a man of great consideration, and he held the first place
-officially in the cabinet; but when Europe began to rouse herself from
-her sleep, Castlereagh gave so powerful an impulse to the English
-diplomacy that it very soon ruled the world: let us now see what an
-immense task she had to perform.
-
-Europe, with all her desire of acting vigorously against Buonaparte,
-possessed neither money nor credit, and this to such a degree, that
-Prussia, for instance, had not a million of florins at her disposal;
-England not only provided subsidies, but also the means of negotiating
-loans: she became security for Prussia, Austria, and Russia; thus
-taking upon herself the credit of the world. The whole of the subsidies
-were not paid in money--arms, clothing, and provisions were also sent;
-and this extraordinary effort gave employment to her machinery, work
-to the labouring classes, and immense occupation to her mercantile
-navy. Her inexhaustible liberality demanded in return the abatement of
-the tariffs and free entry for her manufactures; by which means she
-regained a great portion of the advantages she afforded. In order
-to be convinced of this, it is only necessary to consult the rate of
-exchange for that period, which was almost always in favour of London;
-that is to say, that while she appeared to be furnishing money, it was
-merely changing the location of her funds. Hamburg, Frankfort, Vienna,
-and Berlin, were in debt to London, and the loans thus compensated
-themselves; shewing the prodigious strength of the commercial
-principle, and the magnificent power of an aristocratic state, directed
-by a superior mind.
-
-The principal object Lord Castlereagh had in view was to bring about
-a degree of persevering unity in the European coalition; it was the
-ruling idea of Mr. Pitt and the labour of his life: but the statesman
-had so often failed in his object. The weakness of Europe against
-Buonaparte resulted from its divisions, from its conflicting interests,
-and the separation of one cabinet from another; it was therefore
-necessary to unite them all in one common cause, and this was not the
-least difficult task he had to perform. If they might reckon upon the
-willingness of Russia to proceed to extremities against Napoleon, if
-the national spirit had been roused in Prussia to strive earnestly
-for the fall of the Emperor, were they likely to meet with the same
-concurrence, the same absolute devotion on the part of Austria, and of
-Sweden under Bernadotte? What obstacles and opposition Lord Castlereagh
-had to encounter in the course of the year 1813, at the time of the
-armistice of Plesswitz and the congress of Prague! Fresh discussions
-were incessantly started, and the coalition was repeatedly ready to
-fall to pieces, from the selfish tendencies of private interests. As
-for him he had but one object, one desire--the fall of Napoleon and
-the dissolution of the French Empire, and no words can express the
-power possessed by a man who has one idea constantly present to his
-mind, and follows it up with undeviating energy. The dissolution of the
-congress of Prague was occasioned by this absorbing passion in the mind
-of Lord Castlereagh, who induced Metternich to engage more decidedly in
-the coalition; he was like the intrepid hunter who sounds the halloo in
-pursuit of the stag at bay.
-
-The vast plan he had conceived rested upon two points--exertion on the
-part of the various governments to promote the march of troops, and a
-general rising among the people to second the efforts of the cabinets.
-The material impulse was given by Russia, and he allowed it to proceed
-and develope itself, well knowing the example of that great power would
-be followed by Prussia and Austria, and that their efforts would be
-sufficient for the liberation of Germany. It then became necessary in
-the north to urge Sweden to take the field, and with her Denmark and
-Holland; all his efforts were therefore directed to this point, and
-gave rise to the mission of Sir Charles Stewart and General Graham. He
-considered there would be no difficulty in inducing a revolt among the
-oppressed Dutch and Belgian population, and a popular movement would
-bring about the restoration of the House of Orange; while in the south
-the armies of England overspread Spain and Portugal, and France was
-thus attacked at both extremities at the same time. This has always
-been the favourite political system of England; by acquiring influence
-in Spain and Portugal, and also in Belgium, she prevents France from
-affecting her either commercially or diplomatically; and as English
-statesmen, in what situation soever they may be placed, never lose
-sight of the hereditary diplomatic traditions, one plan is transmitted
-through many generations, in the same manner that it formerly descended
-in our monarchy, when under the dominion of kings, and of able and
-distinguished ministers. Nothing is done in that country from a sudden
-impulse; every plan is maturely weighed, and England in the nineteenth
-century is swayed by the same principles as in the sixteenth.
-
-Lord Castlereagh's task, however, increased in difficulty as the allied
-armies drew near France, and their interests became more personal
-and more divided. It then became a question whether Austria would be
-willing to overturn France, and whether the Emperor Francis would
-sacrifice his son-in-law; there was also a doubt whether Russia would
-consent to the proposed augmentation of Austria and Prussia, which
-would add so considerably to their importance; and in addition to all
-the other questions, what compensation was likely to be awarded to
-England? Such were the difficulties that arose at every step after
-the Allies had reached the Rhine, until at last Pozzo di Borgo was
-despatched to England, with the firm determination to induce Lord
-Castlereagh, if possible, to visit the Continent; his presence now
-seemed really indispensable amidst the clashing of ideas and interests,
-which threatened to lead to the dissolution of the coalition. England
-alone was capable of reconciling all their wishes, and restoring to the
-various forces the unity which, like the bundle of sticks in the fable,
-rendered them invincible when united, though each separately would be
-easily overcome.
-
-Lord Castlereagh arrived on the Continent to confer with Lord Aberdeen,
-Lord Cathcart, and his own brother Sir Charles Stewart; and from this
-time the influence of the British legation was complete and paramount.
-The intervention of the English minister was indispensable, as I
-have before observed, to fortify the bonds of cohesion between the
-various cabinets, and more especially for the purpose of enforcing
-the principle, that no treaty was possible with Napoleon. In the
-conferences that took place between Metternich and M. de St. Aignan
-at Frankfort, the English legation observed that the Allies appeared
-rather inclined to a pacific arrangement, which would leave the Rhine
-as the boundary of the French empire, and would consequently include
-Belgium; but never would England have consented to a proceeding which
-would abandon Antwerp to France: she had too long coveted her fleet and
-great arsenal, and many had been the expeditions she had undertaken
-with that object!
-
-The opinion of Castlereagh was therefore inflexible; France, he
-declared, must be reduced within her ancient limits, and this
-resolution led to the conviction that with the ancient frontiers
-the ancient dynasty would be necessary. It was not that the English
-minister had entered into any engagements with the house of Bourbon;
-the Tories might consider the restoration of Louis XVIII. as a
-desirable circumstance after the general disorder that had existed
-in Europe, but it did not make one of the necessary conditions of
-a general peace, for the selfishly English interest was paramount
-over every other consideration. This state of affairs is evident in
-the correspondence between Lord Castlereagh and the French princes
-who had taken refuge in England; and though he might insinuate to
-the Comte d'Artois and the Duc d'Angoulême that they might appear
-on the Continent, he would not officially approve of their conduct,
-so as not to make the restoration a necessary condition for the
-re-establishment of peace. This caution affords an explanation of the
-Duke of Wellington's conduct after the battle of the Pyrenees; he made
-no objections to the Duke of Angoulême's presence in the south of
-France, but the white flag was not hoisted, because Lord Castlereagh
-was completely engaged in the negotiations at Châtillon.
-
-In these conferences, so fatal to our interests, the predominance of
-the English minister was manifested in the highest degree. As England
-furnished the subsidies, she exercised very great influence over
-the movements of the Allies, and Lord Castlereagh's language often
-assumed an imperious tone. Upon the first hesitation manifested by
-Austria, he declared that England would no longer be security for the
-money borrowed by the cabinet of Vienna, if they should attempt to
-enter into a separate treaty; and he was supported in his design of
-a general unity against Napoleon by Pozzo di Borgo, who had not left
-his side since they had travelled together from London. In fact, he
-was convinced it was not possible to make a treaty with Buonaparte.
-What peace would there be for Europe as long as he continued to wear
-the French crown? Had they not for many years been engaged in a
-protracted and constantly recurring struggle? For this reason, upon
-firm conviction, he supported as a statesman the maxim adopted by the
-Tory party,--_The ancient territory and the ancient dynasty_.
-
-Although Lord Castlereagh held no acknowledged diplomatic office at
-the congress of Châtillon, he nevertheless swayed all the resolutions
-formed there; he was the principal author of the treaty of Chaumont,
-which placed the military direction of the campaign under the influence
-of England. It was a singular example of the power that may be
-exercised by a commercial and monied government over military powers,
-for England had hardly any soldiers engaged in this war, but by means
-of her subsidies alone she set in motion a million of men, and made
-them subservient to her national and exclusive interests. Thus it
-was admitted as a general principle, that France was to be reduced
-within her ancient limits, and the object of England was gained by our
-being deprived of Antwerp; her vast arsenal was no longer dangerous,
-and her fleet was to be divided. It may be said that the treaty of
-Paris in 1814, which was the consequence of the treaty of Châtillon,
-formed in some measure a realisation of the leading ideas of Toryism;
-that is to say, the re-establishment of the House of Orange, with a
-territory extending to our frontier; Prussia increased in strength
-and importance, Austria assumed a predominant position in the south
-of Germany, while they both served as barriers to Russia; and above
-all, the maritime and commercial supremacy of Great Britain, to
-such a degree that, in the secret treaty of 1814, Lord Castlereagh
-imperatively insisted on the rupture of the family compact among the
-various branches of the House of Bourbon, for the purpose of rendering
-her influence as secure over Spain as over Holland.
-
-One might have supposed that, after this long and painful struggle
-against Buonaparte, the English minister would have enjoyed some
-rest from his anxieties; but such was far from being the case, for
-the Colossus had scarcely been hurled from its base before intestine
-dissensions arose in the coalition which had so lately set the world
-in motion. Various interests were the subject of secret discussion
-at Vienna; and the questions concerning Saxony, Poland, and Italy
-occasioned him extreme uneasiness. Throughout the whole period of the
-French revolution, England had undoubtedly played the principal part,
-and her perseverance alone had saved the Continent from a general and
-overwhelming oppression; but in diplomatic matters, as in politics,
-ancient services are less considered than the new situation in which
-countries are placed: England had been too much engaged in continental
-affairs not to continue to feel great anxiety concerning them, and
-on the question of Poland, Lord Castlereagh was opposed to the plans
-of the Russian cabinet, and he did not restrain the expression of
-his dissatisfaction respecting the Polish _suzeraineté_, which the
-Emperor Alexander was desirous of reserving to himself. No one ever
-surpassed his lordship in the union of firmness of character with the
-most polished manners, the distinguishing mark of a true gentleman;
-there was a degree of steadiness, I may almost say of nobleness, in
-his private conferences with Alexander, in the midst of the splendid
-_salons_ of Vienna, that was quite admirable.
-
-No aristocracy in Europe is more magnificent than that of England. Lady
-Castlereagh's parties at Vienna exceeded in splendour those even of the
-Emperor of Austria, and were replete with every pleasure and amusement;
-while her ladyship, who was a woman of extraordinary abilities,
-afforded considerable assistance to the diplomatic proceedings of
-her husband. The bold and rather presumptuous manner of Sir Charles
-Stewart, Lord Castlereagh's brother, were tempered by the studied
-mildness of Lord Aberdeen and the military profusion of Lord Cathcart;
-and the _soirées_ of the English legation were cited as the most
-brilliant of the season, not excepting those of the sovereigns. The
-English minister, however, was not satisfied with the decidedly Russian
-tendency of the congress. He had carefully studied the character of
-Alexander, and was well aware that vast ideas and infinite ambition
-lay concealed under the religious mysticism he had adopted under the
-influence of Madame Krüdner; and looking at it under this point of
-view, he naturally came to the conclusion that, if the English policy
-had been the means of saving the Continent from the absorbing power
-of Napoleon, it would be necessary to guard against a new danger, and
-prevent the power of Russia from becoming too great and exercising too
-absolute a dominion over the destinies of the world. This feeling,
-common to them all, formed a tie between Castlereagh, Metternich, and
-Talleyrand, all of whom were equally convinced that the combination of
-the three sovereignties would not be too much to oppose the projects
-of Russia; and their dissatisfaction increased so much towards the
-termination of the congress, that the three plenipotentiaries signed
-the treaty of alliance concluded in February, 1815, to guard against
-any possibilities that might arise regarding Saxony and Poland. Thus
-the man who had been the keystone of the coalition, whose powerful hand
-had cemented and directed it, contributed at this moment to introduce
-divisions into its bosom, because the common danger had passed away.
-
-This danger, however, appeared again when intelligence was received
-of the landing of Buonaparte and his march to Paris; and the English
-minister had no hesitation in placing himself at the head of the
-coalition, for Napoleon was considered as the general enemy of Europe.
-In 1814, Lord Castlereagh had opposed the sovereignty of the island of
-Elba being awarded to the ex-Emperor, and now, laying aside all other
-considerations, he looked at nothing but at the necessity of restoring
-unity to the confederation, and marching at once against the man who
-had been placed at the ban of Europe. Reports were in circulation that
-England had favoured the return from Elba, in order again to humble
-France and to impose heavier conditions upon her; and Lord Castlereagh,
-when asking for subsidies, was obliged in the House of Commons to enter
-into an explanation upon the subject. He had only to answer, that it
-was against his opinion a sovereignty had been granted to Buonaparte;
-but that, after he had once been acknowledged as an independent
-sovereign, no one had any right to watch his actions and proceedings.
-He and the Duke of Wellington now shared the arrangements between
-them, the one directing the debates in parliament while the other was
-employed in organising the army. Immense subsidies were again required
-to assist the coalition, and set a million of men in motion against the
-glorious adventurer who had made but one step from the Gulf of Juan to
-Paris.
-
-Lord Castlereagh had vowed an implacable hatred to all the ridiculous
-dynasties who sheltered themselves under the mantle of Napoleon, and he
-revealed to the House of Commons the correspondence between Murat and
-the Emperor; thus paving the way for the downfall of that melodramatic
-king who was playing his part among the lazzaroni at the palace of
-Portici, or at the Villa Reale. In the stormy debates in the House
-of Commons he always exhibited the same tenacity of principles and
-resolution which had supported him in the imperial crisis, and even the
-present situation awakened in his mind the pride of a statesman who
-has realised some great thing for his country; for the supreme power
-henceforth belonged to England, and no one could dispute with her the
-empire of the sea: for a short time she had been at war with America,
-but peace had just been concluded, and all these circumstances had
-greatly augmented her power.
-
-In the struggle now taking place, his lordship was possessed with one
-great object: in 1814 he had made some concessions to France, and he
-considered the affair terminated when her ancient limits, augmented
-by Savoy and the Comté Venaissin, were assigned to her, under the
-government of her ancient dynasty; but he now found all his work had
-fallen to the ground, and he concluded from thence that the power of
-France was still too great, and predominated too much on the Continent:
-for the sake, therefore, of obtaining the applause of Germany and the
-support of Prussia, he entered unhesitatingly into all the hatred vowed
-to us by them. Waterloo had placed France under the especial direction
-of England and Prussia, and deprived her of the Russian influence;
-therefore his lordship was at liberty to explain his ideas, and there
-was every facility for the execution of his system. His principles
-being in perfect agreement with those of the Duke of Wellington, he
-communicated to him his opinion about the future condition of France.
-In the first place, the ministerial system must be entirely English;
-and as a good understanding had existed between him and Talleyrand at
-Vienna, he chose him to fill the situation of prime minister. Then
-again, the Tories do not like revolutionists; but as these last assumed
-a suppliant attitude before the English, and that the patriots, under
-the shield of Fouché and of the representative chamber, were at the
-feet of the Duke of Wellington, even to obtain a foreign prince, they
-decided Fouché should be appointed to the ministry with Talleyrand.
-
-But this was only the commencement of the system. Lord Castlereagh had
-observed that the material power of France was too considerable for the
-balance of power in Europe, and also that Belgium was not sufficiently
-protected; he therefore considered it necessary another frontier should
-be adopted, to prevent any irruption on that side; and as England
-wanted to secure the good will of Germany, he agreed to support, if
-necessary, the proposal for the cession of Alsace and Lorraine to the
-Germanic confederation. These ideas gave birth to the hard conditions
-insisted upon by England, and rendered it necessary that France should
-have recourse to the Emperor Alexander to obtain better terms after her
-heavy afflictions.
-
-With regard to Buonaparte, the minister's conduct was perfectly
-consistent. In 1814 he had strenuously opposed the idea of an
-independent sovereignty in the island of Elba, and the enemy of
-England was now again in his power. It has been written and currently
-reported, that Napoleon's resolution to throw himself for protection
-upon the generosity of England was a free and spontaneous action; but
-such was far from being the case: too well did he know the unpitying
-and irritated feelings entertained against him by that nation, but he
-went on board the English man-of-war because he could no longer escape
-the cruisers, and perhaps the sailors in those vessels might have done
-him some injury, in vengeance of the sufferings of Captain Wright,
-who died in so mysterious a manner in the Temple. His letter to the
-Prince Regent was only an attempt to escape his fate by assuming the
-position of a free agent, when a few hours later he would have been a
-prisoner of war. As soon as Buonaparte was on board the Bellerophon,
-Lord Castlereagh hastened to acquaint the plenipotentiaries of
-the allied powers, assembled at Paris, with the fact; and then he
-naturally returned to his original and favourite idea of placing him
-under the charge of the Allies, in some spot sufficiently remote from
-the Continent to secure Europe against the risk of any further bold
-attempt on his part. This proposal did not arise from any personal
-hatred or feeling of animosity, but was the result of a profound and
-well-considered conviction. As for the rest, every thing was done
-with proper attention and consideration; but no one ever shewed more
-sulkiness, ill-humour, and I may say more littleness, than did Napoleon
-in adversity. How had he treated the Duc d'Enghien? Had he not pursued
-and striven to ensnare Louis XVIII. in every part of Europe? Was it
-too much, immediately after his adventure of the hundred days, which
-had cost us so dear, to send him to a place of security, from whence
-he would no longer be able to torment Europe? Buonaparte took offence
-because the title of majesty was refused him, and because he was not
-permitted to live quietly like one of the citizen classes in England or
-the United States (a proposition he made with just the same degree of
-sincerity as his request to be appointed _juge de paix_ of his district
-before the 18 Brumaire). Imagine Buonaparte a citizen of Westminster or
-Charleston! After so long a drama on the theatre of the world, if a man
-has not been able to die he ought to know how to submit to obscurity;
-but he, at St. Helena, did not exhibit the greatness that ought to have
-arisen from his recollections and his glory, and I would willingly
-believe his flatterers garbled his conversations in the narratives
-published of his exile.
-
-By the treaty concluded in the month of November, which was the
-completion of the transactions at Vienna, a magnificent position
-was allotted to England. In the south of Europe her influence over
-Portugal was secured, and the family compact was broken; in the north,
-a kingdom was constructed of Holland and Belgium, under her patronage,
-for the Prince of Orange, one of her generals; Prussia was closely
-attached to her system, and the Elbe opened to her the road to Germany;
-Hanover belonged to the British crown; she absorbed the factories and
-establishments of France in India, and acquired the Cape of Good Hope,
-the Isle of France, and Ceylon, besides Malta and the Seven Islands
-in the Mediterranean. She had reached the highest degree of power
-permitted to a state, and it was the firm and resolute conduct of Lord
-Castlereagh that had led to these great results; for had the weak and
-unconnected opinion of the Whigs carried the day, had peace been signed
-with Buonaparte, based on the terms approved by Fox and Grenville,
-never would England have attained to such a pitch of power and
-splendour. In mortal struggles like these one party must perish; and
-as it was, Napoleon sunk under the efforts of Britain. The captive of
-St. Helena was well aware of this, for he never accused any one of his
-fall but Lord Castlereagh and the English aristocracy, whom he devoted
-to the execration of future ages; no doubt for thus having succeeded in
-exalting the grandeur of England, as he had dreamed of doing with the
-magnificence of his nation and his race.
-
-In the history of states, two periods usually occur. When there is a
-strong inclination to foreign wars, it very seldom occurs that there
-is much agitation among parties at home, because when society is
-hurried with violence into affairs of great importance, she has no
-time for considering her own troubles or inquiring closely into her
-domestic afflictions; but when the war is over she turns her attention
-upon herself, and internal dissensions take place. This was the case
-in England after the treaty of Paris in 1815, extreme irritation was
-displayed in her troubles; and this requires some explanation: that
-there was much suffering among the various classes of British subjects
-is an undoubted fact, and it proceeded from many different causes. The
-successive debts she had been obliged to contract had inordinately
-increased the taxes; a war, lasting for twenty years, had been suddenly
-succeeded by a peace which had injured the interests of many people,
-because war, by occasioning an unnatural excitement to industry of
-every kind, had given employment to thousands, for the commerce of the
-world was in the hands of England. Peace opened an immense competition;
-Great Britain, formerly alone in the market, now met with the French
-and Americans, and the ports were no longer exclusively open to her
-manufactures. Besides this, pauperism, that species of leprosy in a
-nation, had greatly increased, and it had now become an actual sore in
-the British government, a vermin on the velvet robes of her rulers.
-
-A radical and deep-seated movement had also taken place in the public
-mind. Great excitement always leaves a degree of fermentation behind;
-the revolutionary doctrines had sheltered themselves behind the shield
-of parliamentary reform, and this very reform became a pretext gladly
-seized upon by agitators; thus England found herself covered, not with
-secret societies, for on her soil people breathe freely, but with
-clubs and inflammatory meetings, so that the country resounded with
-petitions. On this occasion it again became necessary to display a
-degree of firmness; the inflexible character of Lord Castlereagh was
-alone capable of opposing to doctrines which manifested themselves by
-riotous assemblies of 100,000 men in various cities.
-
-Independent of these domestic troubles, there were also difficulties
-connected with foreign affairs that exhibited a no less serious aspect.
-Ever since the year 1792 but one great danger had occupied the mind of
-Europe, the absorbing and inordinate power of the republic and empire
-of Napoleon. England having always been at the head of the implacable
-movement which attacked the revolutionary power in France, had also
-naturally taken the lead in the political transactions; and Europe did
-not stop to examine whether the cabinet of London assumed too great an
-influence while protecting the general interest; for Buonaparte excited
-alarm, and the assistance of Great Britain was required to oppose him:
-but as soon as this powerful Colossus was overthrown, a continental
-system was formed under the influence of the Emperor of Russia, and led
-to all those congresses, annually repeated, in which England could not
-take an active or predominant part. The statesmen of Great Britain,
-both Whigs and Tories, rejected all the theories of absolute power;
-they had been educated in the principles of 1688, and neither would,
-nor could, adopt the maxim of the divine right of kings. Thus Lord
-Castlereagh could not unite in all the manifestoes and declarations of
-principles which the Emperor Alexander issued in his mystical ideas of
-the Holy Alliance. We must not lose sight of this circumstance in the
-last four years of the minister's life. The treaty of 1815 had hardly
-been signed before a formidable conspiracy of Radicalism in arms arose
-in England, not merely easily suppressed riots, but bodies of 100,000,
-who broke the power-looms and pillaged the houses, and the ancient
-aristocracy appeared threatened with the most imminent danger; yet
-such is the spirit of order in that country, and the reliance to be
-placed on the English population, that these tumults were not attended
-with danger. On this occasion the firm repressive spirit of Lord
-Castlereagh was fully manifested; without hesitation, he demanded from
-parliament the suspension of all liberty, even of the _habeas corpus_,
-that powerful security of the English citizen. The troops ordered to
-act vigorously against the rioters, shewed no compassion, because
-there appeared no limit to the disturbances. How many accusations
-were brought against Lord Castlereagh after the riots at Manchester
-and Birmingham! The pamphlets published on the occasion represented
-him as a butcher of human victims, and Lord Byron wrote some lines on
-the cold impassiveness of his countenance. Was England to be allowed
-to perish to please the poets? or were the designs of housebreakers
-and destroyers of machinery to be seconded? The minister only did his
-duty as a statesman--he saved society, and what do people want more?
-He did it even at the peril of his fame--a great sacrifice for those
-who devote themselves to the idea of order in the midst of disorder.
-Very vigorous bills were passed, on the demand of the minister, against
-foreigners, and against the instigators of the disturbances, and
-he undertook in parliament the painful task of obtaining repressive
-measures. In England there are resources, even in times of the greatest
-danger, because there exists a race of statesmen, the Tories, who never
-give way to public clamour; in the midst of the most formidable riot a
-degree of respect for the laws is still felt, and people submit to the
-summons of a constable.
-
-This agitated situation lasted nearly five years; the counties were in
-a blaze; and at last the Queen's trial became the pretext for fresh
-disorders. No one could take any interest in a queen who, in the
-decline of life, had carried on her intrigues in Syria, in Greece,
-and in Italy, with true English disregard of public opinion, which is
-in itself an eccentricity. Every one was aware of the irregularities
-of the Princess of Wales, now queen by the death of George III., and
-retaining in her service the witness and partaker of her excesses, her
-chamberlain, Bergami. But the Radical party did not look so closely at
-the affair; all they wanted was a pretext to excite the public mind,
-and they had recourse to the queen's trial as a means of occasioning
-riot and disorder. The Tories, deeply sensible of the embarrassed state
-of the country, and desirous, if possible, of avoiding a scandalous
-trial, proposed a middle course to the princess. Her name was not to
-be mentioned in the Liturgy, but she would still be queen, only she
-would be required to remain abroad, constantly travelling about, and a
-large pecuniary allowance would be made to her; but upon the Radical
-party being consulted, the old queen refused all the offers, and a
-long and disgraceful trial was obliged to take place. Lord Castlereagh
-determined upon the measure with firm and respectful energy; the more
-unwilling he had been to resort to this mode of proceeding, the more
-vigorously he was resolved to carry it through. When we contemplate
-the angelic figure of Anne Boleyn, beside the gross and sensual Henry
-VIII., every one feels a strong and lively interest in the unfortunate
-victim; but who could have the slightest feeling for a queen grown old
-with the most degrading passions?
-
-The minister here again was opposed by his old adversary Canning, who
-was then aiming at extreme popularity. He had constituted himself the
-Queen's champion, not because he esteemed her, but because this course
-furnished him with the means of the most violent opposition to the
-ministry over which Castlereagh presided. The trial began, and was
-followed by debates, and the disgraceful and disgusting revelations are
-too well known. The oratorical fame of Brougham and Canning was greatly
-augmented by these proceedings; their popularity became immense, and
-their opponents were visited with a degree of reprobation to which men
-of distinguished capacity must accustom themselves in the course of
-their painful and wearisome task.
-
-All these domestic events occurred at a period when Europe, still
-full of agitation, was constantly holding congresses, in order to
-declare her principles, or to decide upon general arrangements.
-Since the declaration of Alexander, bearing the title of the Holy
-Alliance, England had taken up a separate position; her statesmen,
-more especially Lord Castlereagh, had declared the principles of that
-convention to be too vague to allow the English ministers to admit
-them, under their legal responsibility. From this first separation of
-interests from the rest of Europe, two political systems resulted: the
-one Russian, whose ascendency over the congress was almost absolute;
-the other English, which opposed any general deliberation upon
-interests now divided.
-
-Lord Castlereagh assumed this position when he attended the congresses
-of Troppau and Laybach; he signed the protocols without adopting
-the ideas of the Holy Alliance, but simply as the consequence of
-the treaties of 1815 and the articles of the congress of Vienna. In
-his conversations with Metternich he advanced this principle, that,
-although Europe might enter into an agreement to repress disturbances
-affecting the security of crowned heads, she neither could, nor ought
-to interfere with any modifications which a people might freely and
-spontaneously choose to make in their respective governments. This
-declaration referred to several very important questions that had
-lately arisen: first, the separation of the Spanish colonies from the
-mother-country; secondly, the disturbances in Greece; and, thirdly, the
-revolution in Spain. The emancipation of the Spanish colonies of an
-ancient date originated in the commercial interests of England, which
-constantly require to be satisfied; the markets opened by peace must
-replace those of war, and a new world was requisite for the overflow of
-her manufactures; under this point of view, therefore, the emancipation
-of the Spanish colonies secured a market to England, she henceforth
-became favourable to their independence, and her consuls resided with
-their _exequatur_ in these colonies. Lord Castlereagh's position at
-this juncture was rather delicate; for with one hand he favoured the
-sedition of the colonies, and with the other he severely repressed the
-riots in the English counties.
-
-Being a partisan of the emancipation of the colonies, he naturally felt
-no repugnance towards the government of the Cortes at Madrid. What is
-considered of importance in England, is not the form of government
-adopted by a power, but its tendency with regard to herself and her
-interests. She seldom breaks a lance for a mere chivalrous idea. Both
-Whigs and Tories are equally actuated by the same spirit of national
-selfishness, which is, in fact, patriotism; and, while holding this
-doctrine, that England is not to meddle with the internal form of
-government, the path remains open, so that they can decide according
-as interest advises. With regard to the emancipation of the Greeks,
-Lord Castlereagh viewed it in its true light, without weakness, and
-without sentimental feelings, allowing the question to rest on the
-ground of Russia and Turkey: thus, to emancipate the Greeks would be to
-aggrandise Russia, open to her the gates of the Bosphorus, and drive
-the Turks into Asia, and this policy would be unfaithful and puerile
-as far as the interests of England were concerned; it was, on the
-contrary, most advantageous to her to protect the Ottoman empire by the
-British flag, to develope her strength, and create in that country a
-commercial alliance for herself. Thus at the same time to give a new
-world to industry, by the emancipation of the Spanish colonies, to take
-no heed of the revolutions at Naples and in Spain, but watch Russia and
-restrain any ambitious projects she might have formed, by supporting
-the Porte: such were the politics of Lord Castlereagh in the first five
-years that succeeded his vigorous contest with Napoleon.
-
-The disturbances in England had begun to subside, when the ancient
-civil war was again renewed in Ireland between the Orangemen and the
-Catholics; it was a constantly recurring quarrel, as between two races
-who entertained the greatest detestation for each other. All the people
-who thought seriously on the subject felt that something must be done
-for the Catholics; the reason for the former oppression having ceased
-to exist, Ireland could not always remain in a state of slavery. Lord
-Castlereagh was well acquainted with this country, where his youth had
-been passed, and, whenever business left him leisure, was accustomed
-to visit the ancient towers of Londonderry, the beautiful lakes, and
-the old fishermen, whom his munificence assisted in rebuilding their
-villages and their boats, portioning their daughters, or increasing
-their own comforts. The bill for the admission of the Catholic lords
-into parliament was then in debate; it was opposed by the Orange
-party in Ireland, and, after passing the House of Commons, was thrown
-out by the Lords; and this was the cause of the sanguinary troubles
-which again threw Ireland into the most fearful state of disorder.
-The ministry shewed no indulgence, for the country was deluged with
-blood; and Lord Wellesley, then lord-lieutenant, declared at last that,
-if they were desirous of saving that country, more agitated than the
-ocean, it must be placed under a most vigorous system of legislative
-exception.[52] The old laws of the conquest were put in force against
-the parties of Whiteboys who ravaged the country, but by degrees these
-demonstrations gave way before the severe measures used to repress them.
-
- [52] Parliament decided upon the re-enactment of the Insurrection
- Act, and the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, in Ireland.--_Editor._
-
-As soon as order was restored, it was necessary the ministry should
-take measures to relieve the sufferings of the three kingdoms, and they
-devoted themselves with the greatest attention to their difficult task.
-It is a historical truth worthy of the remembrance of agitators, that
-they occasion the slavery of all for the sake of the vain pleasure they
-derive from some ovations to themselves. Despotism is the successor of
-disorder, and there is more influence in reason and resignation than
-in the noisy acclamations of the public streets. O'Connell appears to
-me, to be just the man destined to bring about the complete subjection
-of Ireland; he will be the destroyer of his country for the sake of
-a little personal vanity, for the applause of 100,000 men, collected
-round the hustings. The Tories did every thing that was possible for
-Ireland when it was quiet: the emancipation of the Catholics was
-promoted by the Wellesleys, nor did they stop there.
-
-Lord Castlereagh, deeply sensible that there was real suffering among
-all classes of the people, now unfolded his vast plan of economy, with
-all the logic of Pitt in his admirable budget of 1798. Taking his
-ground on the existence of much distress in the agricultural districts,
-and in the principles of credit, he proceeded at once to retrenchments.
-The expenses of the army and navy were reduced by two millions sterling
-a-year; the interest of the public debt was reduced from 5 to 4 per
-cent; and the sinking fund was considerably increased.[53] These
-measures permitted the decrease of imposts, the suppression of all
-additional taxes, and a system of loans to agriculture by means of
-the bank, the grand instrument he always had recourse to, in order
-to make advances to parishes, and more especially to the producers
-of corn, so as always to keep down the price. It was an earnest
-undertaking, and the last he had to carry on during this session. In
-the meanwhile he could not fail to observe that the renown of his old
-adversary, Canning, was marvellously increasing; he was becoming a
-popular character, he was the favourite of the mob, while the firm and
-persevering minister who had aroused the world, and saved England, was
-branded with reprobation by the populace, who broke the panels of his
-carriage. Ought he to allow himself--he, so proud and haughty, to be
-drawn into the wake of Canning, on the boundless waste of revolutionary
-ideas? Partially reconciled to his adversary on the Catholic question,
-his lordship took only a secondary part in the debate; and he was stung
-by the conviction, that, while in foreign relations his influence
-was overpowered by the Holy Alliance, at home Canning was the person
-considered most necessary to the administration, because he was better
-suited to the new liberal situation in which they were becoming
-entangled; and he repeatedly expressed his grief and vexation at this
-circumstance. In England, where public questions are adopted like a
-mission, and the feelings of statesmen on the subject are deep and
-interwoven in their whole being, the destruction of a system involves
-that of the man. Mr. Pitt was killed by the battle of Austerlitz,
-and Lord Castlereagh belonged to that noble school. He whose life
-had commenced in so poetical a manner, who had feared neither single
-combat, nor the dangers of the raging waves in his shipwreck on the
-Isle of Man, could not be afraid of death; but as his hour drew near,
-his disposition became extremely irritable, and he expressed himself
-in parliament with a degree of bitterness and sullen haughtiness: I
-should almost say he looked with pity and contempt upon the opposition
-of the Whigs, who were advancing towards fresh storms and disturbances.
-There are times when people wish to have done with a situation which
-oppresses them, and with adversaries of whom they are weary; they utter
-their last words to their face, and after that they die without regret.
-
- [53] This is a mistake.--_Editor._
-
-Lord Castlereagh announced his intention of visiting the Continent,
-with the intention, if not of being present at the congress of Verona,
-at least of meeting the assembled sovereigns there; and Canning was in
-hopes that, when his colleague had once left England, he would send
-in his resignation, and consequently leave him at the head of affairs.
-But matters were more rapidly drawing to a close: Lord Castlereagh
-had been unwell for several days, and there was every appearance of
-extreme nervous irritability about him; some expressions that fell
-from his lips shewed that he had some sinister ideas in his head, and
-when he went to take leave of the king, the state of his mind did not
-escape the monarch, who had a great esteem for him. From that time he
-constantly complained of a feeling of oppression in his head, and his
-physician, Dr. Bankhead, reported that when he visited him he was calm,
-though there were symptoms of impatience and caprice in his manner, and
-a few short and hurried words were all that he could draw from him;
-he let fall some observations on the troubles of life which raised
-apprehensions of suicide, and he was watched: but on Monday, the 12th
-of August, 1822, just as his physician entered his dressing-room, Lord
-Castlereagh uttered these few words: "Doctor, let me fall on your arm;
-it is all over!" and fell with the heaviness of a corpse. The blood
-was flowing in torrents, from a deep wound which he had inflicted
-in the carotid artery, with a small penknife he had concealed in a
-letter-case. Such was the end of the man, who had conducted the affairs
-of England with so much firmness and consistency for the last ten years!
-
-Since then people have endeavoured to prove that he was raving mad,
-and the opposite party have even asserted, that the energy of his
-government shewed a tendency to mental alienation: would they not have
-considered any man mad, who wanted to contend vigorously against them?
-No, Lord Castlereagh was _not_ mad; he only felt the deep sorrow of
-a statesman who, after having fulfilled a great duty, finds himself
-forgotten and abandoned at the end of his career. Mr. Pitt had died at
-his post while his work was progressing towards its accomplishment, and
-Lord Castlereagh saw it completed by the fall of Buonaparte. But he,
-in his turn, had to contend with the revolutionary opinions that were
-again invading the world; Canning was like his evil genius, and as in a
-long political career they were both constantly before the public, we
-may inquire what services they rendered to England. Castlereagh gave
-his country the pre-eminence she every where exercises; he signed the
-treaties of 1815, he secured to her vast stations, colonies, and new
-worlds, and he was forced to escape, by suicide from the reprobation
-of the people; while Canning the declaimer, the renegade from the
-opinions of Pitt, and who, though threatening all the cabinets, did
-not dare to oppose the expedition to Spain in 1823, died peaceably in
-his bed, and was crowned with universal applause. Alas! it is because
-men who devote themselves to the serious affairs of their country, are
-in general persecuted and misunderstood; for with the populace, noise
-and clamour are thought more of, than good measures. Let it, however,
-be said to the credit of England, that she is returning to the men
-she formerly blamed. The noble hierarchy of statesmen which begins
-with Pitt and Castlereagh, and extends to Peel, Lord Aberdeen, and the
-Duke of Wellington, is now hailed as the school most fitted to afford
-protection to Great Britain; and Fox, Sheridan, and Canning, are only
-mentioned as eloquent speakers, who passed away long nights in the
-House of Commons.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-There is not the slightest doubt that the unfortunate termination of
-Lord Castlereagh's existence was owing to delirium.--_Editor._
-
-
-Printed by George Barclay, Castle Street, Leicester Square.
-
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-
-       *       *       *       *       *
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-Transcriber's note:
-
-Obvious printer errors have been corrected. Otherwise, the author's
-original spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been left intact.
-
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